Tales of Vesperia Aero's POV
by Ookami-Kisanagii
Summary: It is ToV in all it's name. Same storyline but with an extra charcater. She here to steal the spot light, well...kinda! If your looking for a change then this is the story to read. Diclaimer: I do not own everything you read except my character! rated T
1. Zaphias! part 1

Tales of Vesperia (Aero's POV)

_Our world, Terca Lumireis. No one knows how far its lands and oceans stretch. For our people are no match against the hordes of monsters that crawl the earth. Barriers protect the cities in which we live, and we are completely dependent upon them for our survival. These barriers are generated by the blastia. Blastia uses primeval power of aer that fills the world...To provide us with fire, water, and light. They provide us with everything that has made the empire prosper. Perhaps one day...We may even forget the threat of the vicious monsters lying in wait, just beyond the barrier. The blessings of the blastia...Will bestow ever more prosperity to the world and peace to its people. From the empirical capital Zaphias, bedrock of peace, we pray: May tranquility bless this world. _

_E._

***

Chapter 1: Zaphias!?! (part 1)

_Yuri's POV_

"..."

('Tum, tum, tum, tum, tum' 'Crash')"YURI!?" A small boy, with brown hair came crashing in. He looked to be around 9-years-old. "It's terrible!"

"Huh?" Yuri turn his attention to the front of his room where the young boy was panting slightly. "What is it, Ted?"

"It's awful." Ted ran up to Yuri's window seal. Pulling himself up, he pointed towards the massive pool of water that swamped the entire centre of the lower quarter. "The aqua blastia is broken again. And we just finish fixing it."

"Heh! Why not get the imperial knights down here to help us out? I mean, this part of town is part of the capital as well." Yuri sarcastically replied. He knew better than anyone that the knights were to stuck up to ever notice the lower quarters, even if they were in danger.

"You know the knights never care about us," Ted pouted, wiggling his hand around in a disappointing gesture.

"Well..." Yuri stated as he sat up from window sill. "Why not ask the heroic Flynn to come save the day?"

"They wouldn't even let us see him!" Ted continued, pouting more as he jumped down from the window.

"Oh, so I'm Flynn's replacement, huh?" he teased Ted.

Ted gave Yuri a smug look before ignoring his last comment. "Never mind that, come on! We're short on people."

"TED, TED!? You get down here. They need you, too." His mom yelled from the story below.

"I'll...I'll be right there." He shouted before turning his attention back to Yuri. "You'd better hurry."

With that Ted run down stairs and into his family Inn.

Repede, Yuri's faithful pooch, paced himself down stairs to the front of the Inn. Ted had just poked his head outside the door when Yuri touched down in a perfect landing next to Repede.

"Yuri!" Ted exclaimed excited. He was happy to know that he could always count on Yuri whenever there was trouble in the lower quarters. Yuri simple sighed in return and walked towards the center of the square.

*

**{Everyday in the Lower Quarter}**

"Man! First it was the knights yesterday and now this. This really isn't my day." (Yuri)

"Woof!" (Repede)

"I know, I know. There's no use whining about it." (Yuri)

"Woof!" (Repede)

*

As Yuri walked up to the central square, water was seen rushing out of the fountain like crazy.

"We've got to seal it off somehow?" Said one of the residents.

"What going on here? Find any sunken treasure?" Yuri walked into the rushing water, not really caring if he got wet.

"Yeah, but you got here too late, so I'm not sharing." Said a teenage boy.

"Heh heh! Ah, come on, you could of save at least some pocket change for me." Yuri teased him.

"Hey, it's sink or swim, buddy!" Were his last words before he went back to work.

"Looks like that blue-hooded mage we hired skimmed us of our money," Fretted a young lady from the side lines, carefully avoiding the water.

"Glad you could find the time to help us out, Yuri." An old man from the other side of the fountain called out.

Yuri turned to him grinning. "Aren't you a little old to be playing water sports old man? You're not young anymore, Y'know!"

"You're up next! Not afraid of a little water, I hope."

"Yikes! Hanks sometimes you scare me with that youthful spirit of yours," Yuri returned.

"Come on, put your backs into it. Heave, ho! Heave..."

Hanks was one of the Lower Quarter's most respected men. If it wasn't for him half the lower quarter would have been missing in the past.

"Hanks is really going at it." Yuri mused surprised. He's known Hanks for a while now, but he's never seen him this serious.

"He feels responsible," the teenage boy replied. "He was the one who pushed the people to get enough money to fix the blastia core."

"And now he's the one who's all wet." Yuri signed before turning his attention towards Hanks once more. "It's not Hanks fault that mage did a two-bit repair job."

Inspecting the fountain, Yuri notice that the aqua blastia core was gone.

"Yuri if you're not going to help, stand clear. This is dangerous." Hanks warned, placing many sand bags over the edge of the fountain to stop the water from over flowing and flooding the Lower Quarter's.

Yuri walked over to Hanks side. "Hey Hanks! Do you know what happened to the blastia? You know that shiny piece in the center of the fountain?"

"Huh...? Is it gone?" Hanks took a moment to examine the blastia for the missing piece.

"Yeah, the blastia won't work while the core's missing." He tried explaining as much as he knew. He didn't know much about blastia, just as little enough to know that this fountain needed a core. "That aristocrat that came to fix the blastia was the last one who touched it, right?"

"That's right, a Mr. Mordio."

"And he lives in the royal quarters?" Yuri turned his gaze towards the attention of the higher up, now.

"Yeah, so?" Hanks took this opportunity to return to work. "Forget about that Yuri, and give us a hand here."

"Sorry Hanks, I just remember I have an errand to run." He hummed ignoring Hanks and heading up to the Royal Quarter.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hanks realized causing suspicion. "You're not thinking of going to go see, Mr. Mordio, are ya?"

"The royal quarters? Me? I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. It gives me the creeps." Taking his leave he smiled to himself.

"Damn it, Yuri! Just because you can do a few tricks with that bodhi blastia you think you're invincible!" Grumbling to himself, Hanks returned to helping the others. "Here's hoping that he doesn't do anything crazy..."

_Aero's POV_

Coming down from the royal quarters, I notice my good pal Yuri walking in my direction. "Stand clear, handsome; someone with good looks coming through," I joked as I made myself seem pro and victorious.

"Good looking? I thought somebody did me a favour and hit you in the head with a rock.

"Smack"

" Oww..." He grinned not caring for the bruise he was just given, brushing it off.

"Why must you continue to tease me. Yuri, you know you're only gonna get hurt," I pointed out the obvious.

"Come on, Aero, you know I'm only kidding around. Besides that's how I get my kicks every day." I notice that Yuri's mouth twitched for a moment, trying to hide that smile of his from me again. Men, never like to show off their feelings, do they?

{Pause – My name's Aero Phelo. I won't tell you much about me right now, since along the way of our adventure, bits and pieces of my identity will be revealed in time. But I will give you a brief description of what I look like. I have long blonde hair that's tied up in a double loop pony tail, with two curly strips dangling down the front of my face, red eyes, and slightly tanned skin. My wardrobe comes with a brown bandana that covers my forehead, White tube-top, that is silked over with a clear, see-through shirt, and an accessory belt with multiple pockets and holders for my twin daggers. On my leg's I wear riped-up, jean-like Capri pants, along with my knee high brown, belt-buckle boots. Also, I have a lot of jewellery on my wrists and neck. Attitude wise...I am a female flirt. I hate how men can do whatever they like with us, so I became a flirt like them and now I just can't stop. I'm kind towards many people and I love to explore. Opps...I almost forgot to say...I have a little bit of "_sticky_ fingers syndrome" as well.}

``Hah hah! Very funny!`` I replied sarcastically.

``Anyways, what were you doing up in the Royal Quarter's? Stealing again?" He asked raising his left eye-brow. Yuri's always known me too well, but not well enough.

"No, no! You got it all wrong. You can just assume that every time I'm up visiting the rich and annoying that am always up there to steal," I mumbled annoyed, crossing my arms as I knew very well what Yuri was talking about. But, I don't steal on a regular basis. "What about you? You seem to make a racket every time you set foot up there too." And here I change the subject.

"It seems the fountain in head quarters has sprung a leak and dear old Hanks has kindly asked me to seek the help of a mage in town."

There he goes again, using his sarcasticness.

"Hmph..." I chuckling at what he said. "Yes, I notice a tower of water shooting up from that general area when I was investigating the castle. "

My postured changed according to the conversation. I was beginning to get irritated. "Hasn't the lower quarter suffered enough! Damn! Everyday people down in the west part of the capital have to suffer, while these rich bastards look down upon us like we're dirty. Well, I'll give them something dirty." I started to grind my teeth.

"_As long as you keep it 16-A...!_" Yuri trailed off, drifting towards the stairs.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Seriously if he has something to say, say it to my face.

"Anyways, I'm coming with you."

"Hmph...Suit yourself," he waved his hand lazily in the air, me following behind. See that's what I like about Yuri, he allows me to do as I please. No ordering me around or telling what to do. Of course I've never had any love interest in him, or him interested in me for that matter. We're simply good companions... well not as close as him and Flynn.

While on our way to the Royal Quarters we were stop by a familiar challenge. Two guards were stand at their post, and it was too late to wait for their shift to change. The nobles were always heavily guards since the castle was right next to them. We hid in the flower bed, which was the closes to the gate that led into the estate of those rich bastards.

"Hey did you hear?" the guard on the left spoke, chuckling. "The aqua blastia in the Lower Quarters has gone ballistic again and the people were actually trying to collect money to repair it."

"Do they even own enough money to buy a replacement?" the guard on the right replied.

"Don't think so. I heard they had to give up some of their treasures to pay for the repairs."

Man this guy was fat...

"If you can call that junk treasure, that is."

I was serious starting to get pissed. At the same time Yuri was clutching his fists as well, knuckles turning white. He was angry. "They'd probably only get one gald out of all the crap they keep."

"Hah hah..."

Kneeling down, Yuri snatch up a couple of rocks, as the guards kept laughing.

"_Watch this!_" With a strong flick of his wrist he chucked the 3 lds rock at the guard on the left.

"Ophm..." The guard managed before collapsing to the ground unconscious.

"What the...you all right?" The other idiot decided to make sure his friend was ok. Smirking I kneeled down and took this chance, to throwing my rock, knocking him out cold.

"That'll show you two sons of a bitch." I roared in success. Yuri sighed next to me. "Too much?"

"Yes..."

We stood and headed for the entrance of the estates. "If you can't understand the value of junk then your worth less then junk itself." He quoted as he passed the unconscious guards. Entering over we kinda figured which one was Mordio's place, with people's help. A huge carriage was at the front of the mansion with the name plate 'Mordio' on it. Yuri smirked to himself as he placed his hand on the closed door. "Your chariot awaits madam!" He bowed to exenterate his mocking.

"Sorry sweet-cheeks, but your gonna hafta to do better than a curtsy and fancy words to woo me over." I politely added as I waltz over and feminine his soft cheek with my hand. Yuri seemed bummed out; he knew it was useless to make fun of me unless he has some dirt on me. Looking up at the lamp post Yuri notice that the cores were being stolen here as well.

"So it's not just the Lower Quarters. Even these quarters are missing their core. Looks like someone has a case of sticky fingers." his doughtful face turned to me.

"Heeeeeeeeeey...! You can't always think that I'm the only bad guy in the capital and besides I only steal food, money, clothes, jewellery, weapons, men...." I was suddenly cut off by someone's annoying hand.

"If I say I believe you, will you please stop talking?" he asked exasperated

Giving him a slight annoyed looked I gave him a firm nod, causing him to release me from his grip." Good...because I think your talking is what makes people really ill in town

"Smack"

"...Oww..."

I could see Repede shaking his head in embarrassment of his partner.

"Better start digging your own grave; because at the rate I'm pounding you to death your last days on this land isn't that far off." Brushing off his comment we continued on down the streets of nobles.

*

**{Nobles}**

"Looks like the nobles are living the sweet life, as usual." (Yuri)

"Woof?" (Repede)

"The lower quarter's right there and they still don't give a damn." (Yuri)

"It's not their lost, so what do they care?" (Aero)

"They should act, you know, noble. Not just dress nice and hide in their mansions." (Yuri)

"I hate nobles, there all stuck up bastards. It makes me sick to my stomach when they look down on us." (Aero)

"Easy now tiger we don't want to make a scene..._yet_!" (Yuri)

"Whine." (Repede)

*

After walking only a few feet from the carriage, we arrived at the front of the Mordio residence. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. "Doesn't seem like anyone's home." I mused, shifting to my side, crossing my arms in disappointment.

"Let's see if we can find another way in." Yuri sighed.

We snooped around the house and found an opened window --- thank god it was on the first floor!

"This seems like a way in..._Hopefully I can fit through!_" Yuri scratched the back of his head.

"Aw'right now you're speaking my language. We're doing a B & E!" I was pumped up, enough to throw my fist into the air

"What, you want bacon and eggs?"

There he goes again with his sarcasticness.

"No you idiot, I mean Breaking & Entry!" I scowled inches away from his face. "Don't make me hurt you again. And since you're so full of spirit why don't you go first."

I bowed, my hands showed the way to the window. Yuri pouted once more as he claimed up into the window. I followed after him, landing completely silent in the main rec room.

"Mordio has to be here somewhere? Let's search down here first, then up stairs." Yuri stated

We spilt away from each other to check the other rooms.

"I don't think he's down here. If he was I'm pretty sure Repede would have sniffed him out by now." I sighed as I leaned again the wall for support, there no fun in a B & E if you're not stealing anything.

"All right, then let's try up stairs." Yuri ordered. Walking up stairs I, or should I say we, heard a door open from beneath us. From up high, I notice a short man in a red robbed coat exiting a previously locked room. Patting down his pocket, he extracted a shiny orb.

"Could that be...?" Yuri trailed off, jumping down from the second story, followed by Repede. Sure...leave me behind.

"The aqua blastia!" Yuri exclaimed, un-sheathing his sword. I came running up beside him, my hand steady by my daggers as I waited for my moment.

"Wh-who are you?" Asked the mage, trembling at our surprise entry. Suddenly, his hand raced down into his pocket once more and pulled out a smoke bomb.

"Repede quickly!" Yuri ordered as Repede dash into the wall of smoke. After it cleared the mage dude got away, but Repede manage to snatch his bag of goodies.

"Good boy, Repede." Yuri patted his head. Scanning through the bag he notice that the aqua blastia wasn't in it. He sighed. "It not here."

"He must'a ran away with it, damn!"

As I bit my finger I decided we shouldn't be wasting our time. "Let's get moving. Maybe we can still catch him on the way out?"

"Yeah, let's go and get the core back. And give that mage a good whooping while we're at it...Aero...! Put the candle stick down!" Yuri had his hand on his hip.

"What I'm just looking at the fine art work on---Woah!" I was being tug out of the house.

"Yeah, yeah! Keep talking..."

Not caring we exit through the front door. Ummm...here's a tip when your breaking & entry DON'T GO OUT THE FRONT DOOR!

"Halt, I say!" a familiar voice spoke.

"Ah crap..." I muttered, still hanging off Yuri's arm; I wasn't surprise to see _them_.

"I know he's poor, but breaking into an aristocrat's house? My, my how the mighty have fallen," another voice came from the same direction.

"Well if it isn't Tweedle A and Tweedle B!" Yuri mused making fun of the two guards that block our path. He released me and I quickly stood to my feet next to him.

"Grrr...Stop calling us that name!" the guards both shouted.

"Good afternoon, Boccos, Adecor! How are both of you?" I decided to join the fun, but behind them I could see the mage guy escaping into the chariot.

"I-it's...The Grand Master Thief!" again both guards shouted as they pointed towards me. Not even paying attention, Yuri and I race towards the runaway cart, but where stop once again by the two in front of us.

"There's no hope in escaping, you two. We've got you surrounded." Boccos said readying his spear.

Yuri sighed at the loss of the carriage. "Does it look like we're trying to escape? See it stuff like this that keeps you guy from getting promoted."

"You did not just say that." Boccos exclaimed again in anger.

"Heh! I don't blame them. I mean they got stuck with a lousy, lazy captain, that sit around and does nothing all day." I added smirking as they bristled.

"I say, you take that back. Our captain is a great man." Adecor spoke up as he turned his blade on us.

"_Yeah who pretty much hides in the shadows of town and lets his slave do the work for him." _I quietly added.

"Enough beating around the bush, I guess." Yuri sighed flicking his sheath aside as he prepared for battle.

"Today is the day that we, The Schwann Brigade, capture the infamous Grand Master Thief," Boccos finished as he launched.

"Bring it!"

Jumping into battle, I swirled by blades around, blocking his, seriously easy, attack.

"Gahhh..."Boccos rolled back to where he was before.

"I say, allow me, your superior to take on the both of them. You peon should watch and learn from someone with more experience." Adecos announced.

"No, you're the peon so you stand aside." Boccos argued as he, as well, approach.

"I appreciate the sentiments guy, but let's cut the cat-fight and get on with it." Yuri mocked trying to bring them back to the task at hand.

"I guess we should just whack them around a little, don't you think?" I asked and we both took the opportunity, running up and damaging them up with what little fighting was necessary.

"Garrrrh...." they both yelled out as they dropped their weapon in defeat."

"Didn't you hear me when I said "Get ready"?" Yuri snickered as he pulled his sheath back on. I, as well, returned my dagger to their resting place. "You should thank me. I'm giving you some extra practice."

"Come on you guys, I thought you could do better than that." I bent down to reach eye level with them, but my fun was suddenly spoiled. "Great just what I need, Captain 'Cum-More'!"

Ok any guy with a name like that is definitely gonna be criticized.

"Well if it isn't the Schwann Brigade, and all their pitifulness along with them." a man with light purple hair came waltzing into the scene with his task force at hand.

"C-captain Cumore!" Both Boccos and Adecor stood to their feet immediately and bowed in respect. "Please...please don't tell Sir Schwann, Sir!"

"I can't believe our taxes go to paying these guys?" I muttered as I sat down beside Yuri. I knew we were going no were. From the side line I could see Repede with the bag still in he's mouth. Yuri gave him a firm nod and Repede ran away.

"I say, that tops it all. Abandon by your faithful pooch," Adecor laughed.

"My, my you've had a busy day, haven't you Mr. Yuri Lowell? Might I add our most beautiful thief Lady Phelio!" Cumore an chantey'd us. Yuri threw in his sword, sighing I did as well.

"I am a busy man, you know, but I guess I can play with you two for awhile. Gentlemen...go easy on them will you." Cumore turned his back on us. "After you're done with them throw them in prison. Ten day for the boy should be enough... but for the girl..." His glance back at me sent shivers up my spine. "An...eternity sound nice don't you think? For all those time you've stolen from us, this is your punishment."

Without looking back Cumore left and his minions were left to beat us to a pulp, before trowing us into the dungeon of the castle.

**Few! All right! I know I finished this chapter a while ago, but my friend helped me edited it. Now it should be a little easier to read. But besides that...I hope you enjoy my story so far!? Am working on the next chapter right now so don't you worry. Please R & R! XD**


	2. Zaphias! part 2

**(I GOT IT EDIT SO IT SHOULD BE A LITTLE BETTER) Also I will be continuing the story, (but its been hard since its the Christmas holiday) Anyways, Merry Christmas! XD**

Chapter 2: Zaphias!?! (part 2)

"So like I was sayin', the thief made off with a priceless treasure from the noble's mansion."

"I know, I know. Then he was caught, and the loot was returned, right?"

"No. See, that's just nobility tryin' ta keep thing quiet. The treasure in the mansion right now's a fake."

"You're pulling my leg."

"_Who's...who's talking? Wait? I believe one of them is the guard...but who—who is...?"_ I was definitely in a cell, but I was only half conscious: sound the only thing registered.

"Hey, ya didn't hear it from me, bud. The Dark Wings are goin' nuts lookin' for the hideout."

"_The Dark Wings!?"_

I started to wake up into a more conscious level, holding my breath at the name of the guild.

"You mean the thieves' guild?" the guard asked before realizing he was still on duty and stopping himself from asking anymore questions.

"Ahem! That's enough out of you, it's almost meal time."

Finally I was fully awake, allowing me to get to my knees and crawl over to the bars.

"Yo, buddy! What's on today's menu? I like something a little more to my expertise," I lazily said hanging out the cell bars.

"You," the guard glared as he struck my cell with his spear. "You only get one meal a day for your dirty doing around the capital. A thief should be treated the same way as they live: like dirt. The Commandant wants you to pay for what you've done."

Afterwards he walked back to his post, ignoring everything but his duty.

"Damn," I sighed.

"Hey, neighbour! You're awake right? You gotta be gettin' tired from keepin' so quiet," a rough voice was heard from a couple of cells down.

Oh, just to clear this up. No I am not in the same cell as Yuri. I knew Yuri was up the whole time, as well, but I prefer not to bother him.

"You think of that little story all by yourself, old man? You must have plenty of time on your hands," Since I couldn't see past the wall I estimated that he was still lying down on the bed.

"Old man? Now you've gone and hurt this old man's feelings."

As the both of them continued to share stories to one and other, I decided to ask the question we both wanted to say from the beginning.

"Hey, old man?" I spoke up.

"Ohhh...The sound of a beautiful lady voice, what can I do for ya?" the elderly man sounded enthusiastic.

"Heh heh...I just wanna know if there a way outta here?" I've never been in prison before so I don't know what type of security they have around the castle. I don't wanna rush out and run right into the guards arms.

"Ah humph?" Yuri cleared his throat.

"Sorry...._**WE**_ would like to know if there's a way out." There you happy, now?

"Well I'm not sure what yer in for, but they'll let ya out if ya keep your trap shut for ten days." I could hear him moving around in his cell.

"The Lower Quarter'll be underwater by then." Yuri sighed.

"The Lower Quarter...Ah yeah, I heard about that." The men squirmed in his bed. "Sorry, neighbour. That's one piece of dirt I don't have." I pouted. I can't stand staying in one place for too long without something to do.

"Hey, Yuri...What are we gonna do about that Mordio?" I seem to remember it was because of him that we're in this tight situation.

"THE Mordio? You mean to say that you got connection ta the fame mage from Aspio, the city of Scholars?" the old man sounded surprised.

"Eh, do you know about him?" Yuri asked.

"Oho! So you wanna know about him, that information won't come cheap..." He sounded proud of himself.

"It's "The fame mage from Aspio, the city of Scholars" right? I think I got that." Yuri snickered.

"W-wait! That's not it he's the---the ah...?"

Hearing that the man was at a loss for words, the prison door open and to my surprise it was someone I wasn't expecting to see.

"_Commandant Alexei. What's he doing here?"_ I've only seen the Commandant maybe 10 times my entire life, since I've lived in Zaphias. As I watched the Commandant walk by me he went to the back cell where the old man was staying.

"Out." Alexei commanded.

"Ah well, just when things were gettin' good."

"Hurry up." Alexei seem to be impatient.

Blinking, I noticed some purple in the corner of my eye. Turning to it, my mouth dropped open in surprise.

"_Whoa, scratch that...he's not an old man, this guy seems to be in his thirties!?"_

"Whoa!" the man shouted as he suddenly tripped on _nothing_. What was he doing? I couldn't tell, but it looks like he was sharing secrets with Yuri. I also noticed that he slipped something under Yuri's cell.

"What are you doing? Hurry up," Alexei firmly said as he left the prison. Before leaving, the man in purple looked to me and winked as he left behind the Commandant, causing shivers to run up my spine.

"Weird?" I said cockily.

"We did say we're looking for a way out of here..."

Hearing some clinking sound I assumed that Yuri received a key from the man in purple.

"Hey....You gonna let me out?" I asked lazily as I hung from the prison bars. Yuri didn't look to me.

"I'm still debating on it...."

'Smack'

"....Owww!"

I knew he was going to say something like that. Good thing I always keep some rocks in my back pocket. After he unlocked the door to my prison cell, I was finally free.

*

**{Back in jail}**

"Back, again. Man, I was just in here last month for fighting some knights collecting taxes." (Yuri)

"Ah, yeah I remember that. Man, why do the knights gotta make us, the poor people, pay taxes, it's ridiculous. But you seem to be enjoying yourself down here in this crap hole." (Aero)

"I guess I get free meals out of it, if you can call it food. Damn. Cumore's made this way more complicated than it needed to be." (Yuri)

*

"So...What we're you two talking about?" I asked stretching all the kinks out of my body.

"The old man mentioned something about a 'Goddess Statue'. It seems that there's something interesting around it." Yuri was walking around the other cell to see if there was anything useful to use.

"The Goddess Statue...? You mean the one in the left hall?" I was surprised how someone like the man in purple knew something about that.

"I suppose so. How do you know about it?" Yuri asked with narrowed eyes and a sinister look.

"Because...I use that passage to sneak into the castle all the time. . . " Master thieves have to have a master plan of escape.

"Ahhh...I figured it be something like that." Yuri sighed. "Hey wait a minute? How come you never told me about this passage whenever I got thrown down here?"

"That's because I know you'd probably get caught going down into the water way and the guards would find it out. I'm not losing my secret passage because of your stupidity," my attitude shown through my words. Glancing at Yuri I noticed the look he was wearing suggested he wanted to hit me.

"Well it's not so secret if that old man knows about it..." he smirked to himself as he walked past me. I growled a little before letting it go. Walking up to the sleeping guard I find Yuri in front of a chest.

"Here I found our weapons." he whispered as he tossed me my stuff. After receiving all of our belonging back we decided to head for the entrance. Coming out we noticed many guards station around the halls of the castle.

"Tch! This place is heavily guarded, as usual," I pouted. Our escape wasn't going to be easy. "If we're discovered, it'll be a bigger problem for us."

We were hidden inside the door frame of the prison doors. We watched carefully as the guard above us passed by.

"All right, I think the coast clear," Yuri muttered signalling for us to proceed forward, up the stairs, into the next room. As we entered the upper right hall, Yuri made me stop. There was a young woman with pink hair running by, while guards chased after her. She was trap from both ends, nowhere to escape.

"Come on, we have no business here." Yuri was indifferent and about to walk away when---

"Please, you must let me go. I must warn Flynn," the woman cried out.

"Did she just say Flynn?" Yuri turned out of curiosity.

"Yuri, we have to help that girl out. She might know were Flynn is," I suggested, well more like ordered, as I pulled out my daggers and jump in without hesitation.

"BURNING HEAVEN!"

"ASURE RAY!"

We both shouted as our attacks hit the guards directly. The pink hair woman quickly turned to us.

"Flynn!? You came to help me?"

Seeing as we weren't Flynn she seemed disappointed and confused. "W-who are you?"

"Identify yourselves!" one of the guards on the side lines shouted, with his sword at the ready. Before anything else was said Yuri cut him down.

"Man, is this what knights do now?" Yuri asked as he threw his blade over his shoulder. Without warning a vase was thrown at us, but we easily evaded it.

"Whoa! Are you trying to kill us?"

"Well, judging by your appearance you don't belong in the castle." she kept a safe distance from us as she made herself at the ready.

"Oh good, at least you didn't mistake us to be like one of them," pointing to the piles off bodies on the floor I made a face then continued. "I'll accept that as a compliment.

"YURI LOWEEEEEEEEEEL! LAAAAAAAAAADY THEIF! WHERE ARE YOU TWO HIDING? COME OUT THIS INSTENT AND WE'LL FORGIVE YOUR LITTLE RUN AWAY!"

Judging by the tone of irritation in the voice, I presume Leblanc was the one calling for us. Yuri and I sighed at his failed attempts.

"Yuri Lowell? You're one of Flynn's friends, aren't you?" the pink haired woman asked, seemingly to have relaxed a little when she heard Yuri's name.

"What, do you know him or something?" Yuri asked.

"Yes, I'm a very good friend of his," she stated.

"Well, looks like Flynn was able to make a friend inside the castle after all," Yuri muttered sheathing his sword, the woman likely to be no threat to us. Her gaze suddenly turned towards my attention.

"And, correct me if I'm wrong but, you're that famous thief that steals many valuables from the capital? Am I correct?" she asked keeping a firm stare on me while clutching her sword with her other hand, directing it towards Yuri.

"Yep, that's right. The one and only, but if you're safe now, me and my bud here have to get going so...cya," I waved good-bye to her as I tried to push Yuri over the main hall entrance.

"Wait!" she stepped in front of us and stopped us from going any further. "If you're going to see Flynn, bring me with you!"

"Hold on a sec. Who are you suppose to be anyways?" Yuri asked turning his back to her not really caring about the woman right now. She fidgeted. He sighed and continued, "I mean I know you know Flynn, but what reason do you have to see him?"

"I have my reason, but that all I can tell you," she plead, bringing her one clasped hand close into her chest. I kinda felt bad for her.

"Come on, Yuri let's bring her with us," I kinda begged a little. She just looked so....innocent and pitiful.

"Oh, no I'm not going to fall for that trick again. The last time I was kind to a woman she ended up being my worst pain-in-the-butt."

His cold stare turned down onto me. I ended up smacking him for the jibe.

"....Fine she can come with us, but she _**your**_ responsibility."

"Alright let's go!" I chimed, but then hesitated for a moment. "Ah...Where exactly are we going again?"

I could hear Yuri sigh behind me.

"Flynn's room I'm guessing," he muttered before turning his attention to our guest.

"Yes, that's right. We should proceed with caution," she seemed to relax a little more as she came up beside me.

As we walked through the halls, avoiding any unnecessary encounters, we finally arrived at Flynn's room. Deciding not to knock, we entered his room.

"It seems Flynn is not here," the girl, being the first to walk in, said disappointed, moving to look out his bedroom window.

"Wow, Flynn sure does keep this place clean," Yuri smirked, rooting around Flynn's room like he was just here the other day. He looked around the room for any clues left behind - a note or a letter - while I dropped myself on his white sheeted bed.

"So, what kind of wickedness did you brew up?" I asked as I crossed my legs and place my hand gently on them. The girl turned her attention back to us.

"Me? I haven't done anything wrong." she said sincerely keeping a straight face. She was being serious.

"Yet a bunch of knights were chasing you around the castle. Oh, yeah...that's convincing," Yuri snorted as he slumped against the wall.

"Um...well, you see..." She hesitated. "I can't give you much of the details, but Flynn's is in terrible danger."

"Then way not just go after him?" He couldn't have gotten too far away from the capital.

"Well, as you saw earlier, I was caught in the act of my escape," she looked down at the floor. She must have been disappointed, but suddenly she came running up to my face.

"Please, if it not too much, would you guide me out of the castle?" she had her hands together, kneeling slightly in front of me...begging. I blinked out of surprise.

"I don't know...We have some business to take care of down in the Lower Quarter..." Yuri scratched the back of his head glancing at me. I knew that he didn't like taking on this new task, but in the end he was too kind hearted.

"Ok, I can see that you're serious. But you have to listen to everything I say, alright?"

"Oh, thank you!" the girl chimed, quickly rising into a straight position.

"By the way...you never introduce yourself?" I got up on my feet and walk two feet towards her and held out my hand. "Maybe, I should also re-introduce myself properly as well. My name is Aero Phelio, nice ta meet' cha."

I continued to hold out my hand, but before the girl could answer the door was knocked down.

"Ahhhhhhh!?" she jumped and moved behind me.

Yuri was already in place to attack. For a moment I though the guards had found us, (Man that would be a first) but it was someone with multi-coloured hair and wore tights that definitely looked a little uncomfortable. His hair was pulled back by a head band and he carried blades, both of them different. I image they both had deferent effects.

"Prepare to fall victim to my blades..." He announced as he stared down towards Yuri.... was he gay? Anyways, Yuri seemed to not think much about this guy and lowered his guard.

"Oh, it's just a nobody," he waved his hand out of laziness. "You ever heard of knocking?" He placed his air born hand to his hip and turned his back to him.

"I am Zagi...the man who will end your life. Now die, Flynn Scifo!" And without a warning he attacked Yuri.

"Hey, you've got the wrong guy," Yuri complained dodging his attack in time to block it.

"DIE!?" Zagi paid no mind and attention to us and only went after Yuri. . . . definitely gay. He was attacking Yuri like a mad man. "My name is Zagi. Remember it well, Flynn."

"Listen, I'm not Flynn!" Yuri yelled as all he could do was block his attacks . . . and get a few of his own hits on him, too.

"Oi, what's wrong?" he sounded like he was teasing him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Yuri glared as he was knocked down. I could take this anymore and judging by the girl next to me neither could she.

"Yuri let me help you!" I came in ready with my own pair of daggers.

"Allow me to assist you, as well," and to my surprise the girl pulled out a sword and a shield, ready for combat.

"Stay away," Yuri got up onto his feet and placed his hand behind him, stopping us from coming any further.

"Since when do I ever listen to you?" I sarcastically raised my eyebrow and gave him an odd look. He stared at us for a second and then toward the enemy.

"Fine, but if thing get out of hands, run for it."

I smiled knowing all Yuri wanted to do was protect us.

"We will," the girl promised and we all ganged up on Zagi.

"Hahaha...This is fun."

He dodges our first attack, but I got him with my blow. "The more you talk the faster you die, Flynn."

"Dammit, I am not---Urgh...Never mind you're not listening anyways."

Yuri finished him off with a blow to his back. He hovered over him for a moment. "Do I look like Flynn to you?"

"No...Not in the least," I chuckled as I stood in the background with the pinked haired girl. Yuri simply ignored my comment.

"You've got the wrong guy. Aren't you supposed to know this stuff?" Yuri asked taking a few steps back.

"Details, details. Bring it!"

We sighed, Zagi was fired up again.

"This guys nuts. Flynn sure has made some interesting friends," Yuri sighed.

Suddenly another guy came into the room he was wearing a big coat so I couldn't distinguish his face. All I know is that he had red eyes.

"Zagi we're leaving. The knights are on to us."

He brought up two blades hidden under his sleeves and awaited his order, but instead he got a punch to the face. "Gahhh...How dare you?" he wiped his lower lip clear of blood.

"Bwa ha ha...Mind your own business," Zagi bent his back over a bit when he said that. Yuri was right this guys nuts.

"Hurry before the knights get here. Or would you rather have your fun stop today."

Before the cloaked man could say anything else he was chopped down in half by Zagi. The pink haired girl tried not to scream in disgust. Zagi never said another word after that he just started to walk out of the room. Just before leaving he turned slightly and gave a long hard stare at Yuri.

"You know I think he likes you," I told Yuri cheerfully. I'm sorry, but it was something I had to say, which made me giggle a little inside.

"Urgh...I hope not. I'm not really good with 'first dates'," he shot to me sarcastically. "But besides that we should get a move on. If we linger any longer the guards will catch us." I agreed, so I followed behind Yuri.

"Umm...Yuri, Aero," the girl tried to get our attention.

"Yeah, yeah I know. We'll lead you out of the castle." Yuri flung his hand in the air in understanding.

"Oh, well thank you, but I was going to say, my name is Estellise." She crossed her hand in front of her.

"Well then Estellise, shall we be on our way?" I tried to sound as polite as I could, which made her laugh a little. She nodded in agreement, but stopped only after taking two steps.

"Wait, you can't just leave the door like that!"

"I really don't think this is the time to worry about that," Yuri seemed in a hurry. I could understand what he means by it. I don't wanna get caught for something I haven't fully done.

"Don't worry, Flynn an understanding guy...I think," I scratched the back of my head in confusion.

"But...!" Estellise seemed uneasy leaving the door this way, which resulted in making Yuri sigh.

"Fine, fine...Just give me a minute."

I grabbed hold of Estellise's hand and brought her outside Flynn's room. Yuri picked up the door and secured it back onto its hinges.

"There good as new. Now, let's go," he began walking down the corridor. I followed behind.

"W-wait for me..." Estellise whined.

**Gah! I keep forgetting to put this in, but...I hope you enjoyed this part so far. I'm almost out of Zaphias (the story part of it. I've beaten the game like three times) And soon i'll be on my way to the more exciting part of the story...THE ACTUAL ADVENTURE!!! Please R&R...good or bad comments I don't care. It's better if I hear what you think. **


	3. Zaphias! part 3

Chapter 3: Zaphias!?! (part 3)

Evading the guards is a pretty easy task. There not much of trait unless we were up against Flynn's or Alexei's brigade. Luckily none of them were around. The only thing that really annoyed me was the fact that I got myself stuck in this mess in the first place. Sign.....I liked it a lot better when I used to live at seas.

"So-o-o-oo, were exactly are we going? I thought we were heading for the escape root?" I knew where I was going. I was gonna take the secret passage and come out some were from under the royal quarter's, but "Estellise" was definitely not making this easy, since she was going the opposite direction. But I wasn't gonna bitch at her...she was to innocence...damn. She turned to me and gave an apologetic look.

'I'm so sorry. I know that we're in a hurry, but if I'm to escape with both of you. I should acquire the proper garments for this voyage." She placed her one hand to her heart, while the other laid aside.

" 'Sign'...Alright, alright! Where's your room? If it's nearby we can quickly get your thing." Yuri shook his head in annoyance.

"It's just around this corner." She pointed down the, what seemed to be, never ending hallway. The castle is huge...I mean, sure, I've been through this place a gazillion times, but I've haven't been half way around this whole castle. After walking down the hall we stopped in front of a white framed door. "This is my room. I'll go get change just give me a minute."

"Got it. Try and be quick about it." Yuri didn't want to waste time and be caught. Estellise walked into her room and closed the door behind her. I placed myself up against the wall. Looking over at Yuri he seemed to be looking for something?

"What'cha doing?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"Oh, ah...nothing." He avoided my gaze as he walked up to Estellise's door. His hand reaches for the doorknob, but the door suddenly flew open. Estellise had her hand out holding her Stiletto between her and him.

"Just in case." She said.

"What? It wasn't like I was gonna peak or anything." He turned his back to her and lifted his hand into the air, trying to show his innocence. I giggled. I could see a small liner of pink across his cheeks.

"Flynn did tell me to be careful around you, if we ever met." Pulling her weapon back in to the room, she disappeared.

"_Thanks a lot, Flynn!"_ He signed.

"You're not gonna get any women using that method." I gave him a cocky smile. I have never imagined Yuri with a woman before, not saying he can't have one, but it's just...weird.

"Hey, I was just making sure she was alright in there, nothing more." He waved his hand in a lazy gesture. Again, I giggled. After waiting a couple minutes, Estellise, walked out of her room. She smiled at me and twirled around in a circle.

"All right, I'm ready." She settles her hands together as she looked at the both of us. Yuri gave her a quick glance and looked away. "Is something wrong? Do...do I look funny?"

"No. I was just thinking 'this doesn't suit you either'." He continued to look down the hallway. I walked up beside him and gave him a small nudge.

"Come on, let's hurry." I said. Suddenly I felt someone brush my shoulder. I looked behind me to see Estellise. She offered out her hand.

"What's this for?" I asked. Yuri looked at me and shrugged.

"A hand shakes. It's how people greet." Ah, I knew that. But, she was just so cute I had to follow along. I turned and shook her hand firmly. Yuri did the same.

"All right, let's get going."

*

**{On the run}**

"Yuri, you were a knight once, right?" (Estellise)

"Didn't you all ready say you heard of me from Flynn? (Yuri)

"...Well, it's just...you don't seem to know your way around the castle well...'Gasp'....Are you an imposture?!" (Estellise)

"That's some imagination you got. Why would I want to impersonate a regular guy from the Lower Quarter's?" (Yuri)

"I-I guess your right..." (Estellise)

"Urg...Come on, you guys, before the guards caught us. You can have your little chit-chat's later." (Aero)

*

Finding the statue with the angel on it was gonna take us some time. Yuri decided to check out the castle a little more before leaving. Dum idea, I say, but he say he like to know his surroundings.

*

**{Extra Baggage}**

"I just wanted to check the lower quarter's and come back. I didn't expect the extra baggage." (Yuri)

"Baggage? I could take it to the castle's lost and found for you." (Estellise)

"You're the one person I couldn't really ask to take care of it." (Yuri)

"Huh...?" (Estellise)

"...Neverming. He's good" (Aero)

"Okay...Let me know if you change your mind." (Estellise)

"Guess she the textbook 'Little, naive noble.'" (Aero)

"_But why were those knights chasing her...?" _(Yuri)

*

Finally after running down many hallways, we reach the room with the angel statue.

*

**{The intruder, Zagi}**

"Man, I had NO idea there were people like that guy Zagi we saw earlier." (Aero)

"Nah, he's one of a kind. It's pretty hard to find anyone that nuts." (Yuri)

"Good. I don't think I can handle another one like him...Someone definitely threw him in the psycho pin when he was a child." (Aero)

"Yeah, life would be pretty rough if the world were full of guys like him." (Yuri)

*

"So...Is this the statue?" Estellise looked up at the beautiful angel that sat in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, apparently there's some secret to it?" Yuri brought his hand up to his chin and inspects the statue for any clues.

"Well...I don't see anything secretive about it." Estellise stated.

"He-he...You two are so simple minded." I ghost over from behind the statue.

"Oh, no." Yuri sighed.

"What?" Estellise was a little surprised.

"She gonna lecture us." Yuri pounded his hand to his head.

"This statue may seem beautiful and elegant to all who see it, but looks can be deceiving." I place one of my hands to it and twist my body. "But...with a push of my finger..." I applied pressure to the statue and it started to move. "...Ta-da! Secret entrance found." Yuri fell silent, but Estellise was clapping at my 'magic trick'.

"Wow! How did you move such a heavy statue?" Estellise was amaze by my ability to move a pretty heavy angel.

"Oh, that's easy..." I knock on it. "It's hollow!" I smiled. Yuri tried not to fall on the floor.

"Well, it looks like the old man was right." Yuri walked around and looked down into the hole that leaded down into the sewer.

"Who was that guy? He seemed pretty shady." He was definitely up to something. I tried not to think of him much and walk up to Estellise. "Are you coming with us, or staying up here?"

"I'm-I'm coming with you." She hesitated for a moment, but she seemed set on what she said.

"That pretty brave of you." Yuri smirked. She by be naive, but she can still give ya a surprise. "All right, let's go."

"Wait!" She grab onto his hand.

"What is it? Did you change your mind?" He asked.

"Your hand---it's injured. Let me heal it for you." She closed her eyes and her hands started to glow. A green light enveloped around Yuri hand and heals it. But, he suddenly grabs her hand and examined it. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew it was rare for some people to use healing arts.

"Ahhhhh!" She drew her hand back from him.

"He-hey, sorry...I've never seen a blastia like that before. I wasn't thinking." Yuri was embarrassed. I could tell by the way he was talking.

"That's really all it was?" I had to come in and make fun of him for whatever he was embarrass about.

"That's really all it was." He glared down at me and I chuckled away. I started to go down the ladder. "M-my hand feels better...Thanks."

"No-o-o-oo. It's the least I could do." I looked up to catch her slightly blushing. Has she never been complimented before?

"Anyways, let's get moving." He allowed Estellise to go down first and then Yuri followed. Down in the sewer was still the same. A cold damp place with little light and a couple of monsters.

"What are those?" She pointed to the Ratwigle.

"What? Have you never seen a monster before?" Yuri asked.

"Only in books. What should we do?" She looked back at me and Yuri trying to find an answer.

"We fight it." I answered as I un-buckled my sheath that held my daggers.

"But I thought monster couldn't get into the capital because of the barrier blastia." She stepped closer to us as the Ratwigles approached.

"Yes, that's true, but the barrier only works above ground. Many people don't know about these tunnels so they never worry about an invasion or anything." That's the capital for ya.

"I-I see..." She signed knowing that she'll have to fight her way through to get out of here.

*

**{Flynn -- part 1}**

"Have you and Flynn none each other for a long time?" (Yuri)

Umm...Two, maybe three year...? Something like that..." (Estellise)

"Huh...So he's been getting along all right at the castle?" (Yuri)

"Flynn is a very hard-working and honest knight. It seems like everyone trust him. The other day, he told me they've been giving him more responsibility lately, too." (Estellise)

"Hmph...Hard-working and honest. Right. In other words, hard-headed and obsessive." (Aero)

"Hmm...?" (Estellise)

*

We wondered around the sewer for quite a while. Fighting monsters and collecting treasure, which I don't mind.

*

**{Be thankful to strangers}**

"I need to thank whoever told you about this underground passage." (Estellise)

"Why would you need to be thankful for something like that?" (Yuri)

"I'm trying to get out of the castle just like you." (Estellise)

"That's all well and good...but you don't have to be all thankful about it." (Yuri)

"Oh no. we must show courtesy to those who show us kindness." (Estellise)

"Sort of weird to be polite to somebody you've never met, don't you think?" (Yuri)

"Manners are never so important as when dealing with those with whom we yet to be acquainted." (Estellise)

"You really think so, huh?" (Yuri)

"I know so..." (Estellise)

*

We arrived at another ladder, but this one led up to the royal quarters. As we climbed our why out of the sewage, I notice it was sunny outside.

"Damn! I wasted an entire night." Yuri came crawling out of the man hole and looked up at the sun. He covered his eyes from its bright rays.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Estellise was the last to climb out.

"No, no it's alright." Yuri tried to reassure that she wasn't to blame so he gave her his best smile...well tried anyways.

"The guards will definitely know that we're gone now, Not only that, they'll think we kidnap Estellise." I sighed. I never imagine I'd get myself this much attention.

"Hey, calm down. The good thing is that we all made it out safe." Yuri brought his hand up and waited. Estellise seemed puzzled, but made an attempt to try for, whatever he was doing. She went up and poked his hand. ^-^ She was so cute! I can't believe she didn't know what a high-five was.

"W-was that not right?" She seemed confused.

"He-he-he...No, no it's fine." Yuri seemed to smile to. Maybe he thought she was cute...?

"Here Estellise, like this!" I ran up and gave Yuri a rockin high-five. I lean against him for support. "Now it's time to check out how the lower quarter's is doing, hopefully there still kicking." I started to walk out of the royal quarters. Both Yuri and Estellise followed. Estellise seem to gaze around the whole town while we were walking down into the shopping district.

"The world outside is much more beautiful then I imagine." She was aye.

"Oh, come on. It's as if you never lived outside the castle before." Yuri couldn't believe what he was hearing. He probably though she was kidding.

"Ah—well, I..." Estellise was hesitant.

"I guest a noble that lives in the castle can't just simply take a walk outside." Yuri gave an apologetic response. I tried to switch the subject.

"So, Estellise, what are you gonna do, now that you're out of the castle?" I asked walk down tower the lower part of town.

"I'm going to find, Flynn." She seemed egger.

"Uh huh! And how do you plan on finding him?" We both had no clue where he was. Not that I care where the hell he is.

"I remember Flynn telling me he was going on a knight's pilgrimage." A knight's pilgrimage?

"It's were knight's give their support to other needed towns and cities around the world." Yuri knew what he was talking about. He was a knight for three months.

"That's right. And every knight eventually stops in the City of Blossom, Halure." She knew her stuff. She must hang around Flynn to much...Are they going out? Hmmmm...

"You'd have to go outside the barrier." Yuri seemed a little uneasy letting Estellise go outside the barrier by herself. I agreed with him.

"Yes, that's right. Have any of you ever been outside the barrier?" She asked.

"I did a little when I was still part of the knight's." Yuri didn't seem to give a flying fuck about the knight's anymore. He made one of those gestures where he turns his back and sticks his finger in his ear, not caring. Estellise gave a sweat drop and turn to me.

"I use to live outside of Zaphias about 5 years ago, but other than that, no. Besides I don't really remember much outside anyways." A swung my hands up and around my head.

"I see..." Again, sweat drop.

"Well, first let's make our why down into the lower quarter and figure out a plan there." We all made our way down the alley. As we made our way down, an annoying officer stopped us or more like yelled at us from across the town.

"YURI LOWEEEEEEEEEL! LADY AEROOOOOOOO! THE JIG IS UP!" Urgh...Leblanc.

"I say, halt." Adecor nayed.

"Stop in the name of the Schwann Brigade." Borcos announce. Man do they ever give up?

"Oh no! What do we do now?" I pulled Estellise behind me as she wondered.

"First you pick up one of these." I bent down to pick up a hand size rock. Heh-heh...Yuri did the same. I could see the joy in his eyes. "And then you throw it like....**this**!" We both threw the rocks towards the knights. Hah-hah! They fell like fly.

"Quickly, now our chance." We ran down the alleyway, away from Leblanc. I could still hear him '_Getup you fools...". _When we finally returned to the lower quarters we ran into Hanks.

"Yuri, Aero, where have you been?" Hanks caught us out of the corner of his eyes.

"We got invited to the castle and had _the most_ marvellous time." I chuckled as I watch Yuri be sarcastically funny.

"Oh yes! We had our own _special_ sweet and a lovely dinner with the Commandant himself." I joined in the fun. I couldn't resist. Me and Yuri could stop snickering. Hanks definitely didn't believe a word we said. Then he turned his attention to Estellise.

"Oh, and who is the young lady?" Hanks asked.

"Oh!" Estellise came up to him. "My name is Estellise, nice to meet you." She bowed in respect.

"Ah, yes...same." Hanks copied her. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to slap some sense into these two young' in." He smiled and walked up to us. "_The knights were lookin' for ya."_ He whispered.

"_Yeah, we know."_ I crossed my arms.

"_Hey, Hanks! Did you see Repede come down here with a bag in his mouth?"_ Yuri asked.

"_Yeah, I did. He should be waitin' up in that room of yer's." _He answered.

"_All right. Let's go meet up with him and leave, ok." _He suggested.

"_We're leaving. Awesome!"_ I was so excited. I haven't left the capital in years and with Yuri none the less. I've always wanted to travel around the world with Yuri. He's good companionship.

"_We have to. The knights are after us and we'll get caught if we stay here any longer. Besides I can't sit by knowing Little Miss Naive is wondering about by herself outside of this barrier_." Yuri mention.

"_I agree." _Oh! I almost forgot. "_We should also try and track down this Mordio and give him a good licken' for stealing the aqua blastia. No one steal one over me, __**but**__ me."_

"_All right, it's decided."_ We both gave each other a solid firm shack of approval before heading out.

"You three be careful, now. Don't you go and get yourselves killed. We haven't even paid ya back for all those time you saved us." Hanks waved good-bye to us. I grab Estellise hand and we headed towards Yuri's room first, before leaving. After stopping by Yuri's room to gather something we headed towards the lower right exit of town, but once again where stopped by...guess who?

"YURI LOWEEEEEEEEEL, LADY AEROOOOOOOO! YOU'VE GIVIN' MY MAN A HEADACHE. NOW BE A GOOD BOY AND GIRL AND TURN YOURSELVES IIIIIIIN!" God, doesn't his voice ever get tired of screaming.

"That's our queue to run." Yuri said as he grabbed Estellise hand.

"It was nice meeting you, sir." She yelled as she was being dragged away.

"You better not roll over and die while we're gone, old man." I stated. Hanks was little the grandfather I never had. He was a good man.

"Don't cha' worry about us, will hold off the knights you guys just hurry on out." He signals all of the other residents to prepare for...something am not too sure of. "All right everyone, you know what to do." As Leblanc came I took my chance to catch up with Yuri. All of the lower quarter came rushing up to Leblanc, pretending to be amazed in his presence.

"Oh, look it's the knights. Hurray!" A small child cheered.

"They've finally came to help us out." Said a little old lady. And the rest was unheard of since I was too far from them. I reach were Yuri and Estellise were still running. Being a thief you have to be a fast runner. We were suddenly mobbed by a bunch of towns people who were trying to hide us in the crowd.

"You better not make them cry, you hear me." The Inn lady said to Yuri. She was also in the mobbed of people helping us.

"Hey, what are you...Ok, who just hit me. I'm going to remember that." Yuri tried to say between breaths. We were being smothered.

"Hey, who just touch me? I'm not a free ticket to an all you can touch---HEY! Watch were your hands are touching. I'm worth more than you're pathetic---OUCH!" I hate crowds.

"Ahhhhhh!" Was that Estellise?

"Hold on, Estellise!" I heard Yuri scream from somewhere. Finally the mobbed seem to end and we all met up at the out shirts of town.

"Those people where all going to miss you, two." Estellise said between breaths.

"Honestly, I think there more than happy to get rid of us." Yuri corrected. Then he started to feel himself up? He pulled out a bag of money. "Hey, who put this in here? I told them will be find. I gotta—" Then Leblanc could be heard around the corner.

"We don't have time for this, let's go." I tried to rush thing before we were caught again, and I don't really appreciate being caught twice in two days. Leblanc came running down the alley, when Repede jumped out of know were and tripped him.

"Nice going, Repede." Yuri scratched him behind the ear in praise.

"A dog?" Estellise seemed puzzled.

"He's another one of our companions." I answered her.

"All right, let's head to Deidon Hold. Here to the journey ahead of us. Aero! Estelle!" And Yuri walked out of town.

"Ah, yes---Est...elle...? Estelle...Estelle...." She continued to repeat the name over and over again so I just pulled her along. Man I could definitely tell this was going to be an interesting journey. ^-^

**WOOT! Finish with Zaphias. Man, I was on a writing spree this week! I hope your all enjoyinh what i'm writing. It's taking me some time, but i'll be having a lot more chapters up soon. Don't forget to R&R! You know I like to hear what you think. Till next time! XD**


	4. Deidon Hold

Chapter 4: Deidon Hold!?!

Amazing! Simply amazing! I haven't seen the outside world in so long I forgot how beautiful it was. I mean sure I could see the outside world from the roofs of the capital, but to actually be stand in this lushes green field was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

*

**{Thanks to the Lower Quarter's}**

"A map, equipment, and even money. Your friends are really generous." (Estelle)

"Sign" They can't afford this. They can barely get by as it is." (Yuri)

"Even I can't steal all the money in the world to help out the lower quarter." (Aero)

"Well, am sure their worried about you, and want you to have a safe journey." (Estelle)

"It's more likely to be glad to get rid of a trouble-making kid." (Yuri)

"That's not true!" (Estelle)

"It's so-o-o-oo true!" (Aero & Yuri)

"Now enough of this, let's bring back that aqua blastia and give that Mordio guy a good kick in the arse." (Aero)

*

It was going to take us a couple of hours to reach Deidon Hold. Plus we also had to be careful about the wild monsters around.

*

**{Stealing is bad}**

"Good job on kicking Leblanc butt, Repede" 'pats him on head' (Aero)

"Woof, woof" (Repede)

"Ummm...Aero?" (Estelle)

"Hmmm...Oh, Estelle, what's up? Got something on your mind?" (Aero)

"I hope I keep hearing this wrong, but...you steal for a living, right?" (Estelle)

"Yep!" (Aero)

"That's not something you should be proud of. You're wanted all over Zaphias. And you keep giving Flynn a hard time. I think you should stop what you're doing. You're strength could be put for better deeds around the capital." (Estelle)

"HA! So I am pissing Flynn off. Perfect!" 'walks away' (Aero)

"You're not even listening are you...?" (Estelle)

*

About half an hour of wondering around the fields we came across a carriage. It looked somewhat odd...? Apparently we found a moving Inn. Pretty much, people who travel around in a carriage with beds in them. We stumbled in the camp site and greeted the owners of the Inn. The lady was very nice, but her big brother made me want to throw him in a ditch if he didn't shut-the-hell-up with his smart talk. Luckily he was well trained. We rested up a little at the Inn and continued on our way to Deidon Hold.

*

**{Christening Estelle}**

"......Estelle......Estelle......" (Estelle)

"She's been mumbling to herself for a while..." (Yuri)

"Whine" (Repede)

"Hey, you coming? We don't have all day here." (Yuri)

"......Estelle......Estelle......" (Estelle)

"I think....we've lost her?" (Aero)

"Yep! She in her own little dream world... Hey! Estelle!" (Yuri)

"Oh, right! Sorry, I'm coming!" 'walks towards us' (Estelle)

"_Do they not have nicknames were she's from_?" (Aero)

*

It's been a while since I last journeyed with people. The last time I did was at seas with some of my old friends, but sadly I got separate from them. But their all pretty feisty people they'll survive without me. I'm just happy to have found Yuri and now, our newest member, Estelle. We finally arrived at Deidon Hold. The gate town that connects us from the capital to the Tolbeccia region. But we weren't alone.

"Looks like the knights followed us here. It doesn't really surprise me." I said walking into town.

"Well let's just be extra careful and not drag attention when we try to get pass the Hold, alright." Yuri continued towards the gate, along with Repede. I followed.

As we walked I noticed that it was extremely quiet behind me...and sure enough Estelle was gone. "Umm...Yuri!?" I tapped his shoulder.

"Now, where she off to?" He sighed and walked over to a merchant.

"Welcome!" He greeted. "We have a special blade on sale today, plus it comes equipped with the weapon skills." He pulled out a sword from behind his travelling wagon.

"Weapon's skills?" Yuri was quite confused.

"_The special techniques contained in weapons."_ I notice Estelle pop up from behind a pile of cargo boxes. She was holding a book? "_These techniques were originally passed down from master to pupil... but the blade master Assam used a special process to seal them within the weapon themselves. Bodhi blastia can acquire techniques from the weapons imbued with this power. With continued use, weapon artes can be eventually learned by the person using the weapon."_ She finished.

"Woah! You really know your stuff. That pretty much sum it up." The sales man was impressed. So was I...well I guess living a sheltered life means you have nothing much to do all day, but read.

"Yes, I once read that the Kritya's were the one to research this theory." She looked back at both of us.

"This is a pretty bad place for business, don't you think, old man?" Yuri asked.

"Trust me, I know, but I can't really do anything until the monsters on the other side of the Hold have calmed down a little." He looked up towards the gate and scratched the back of his head.

"It must be that time of year were the monsters are really rowdy." During the time when spring come around the monster are just waking up from hibernation and a hungry and aggressive. They travel in pack and mow down the land like the plague. It's also the time for mating...

"Hey, are you coming or do you wanna stay here and dream a little more...?" Yuri teased her.

"Hmmm..." She wasn't paying attention.

"And...We've lost her." I crossed my arms and grimace.

"Huh? Did you say something?" She finally turned around and looked at us. She was so busy read that book in her hand.

"We're gonna go around and gather some information. You stay right here and wait for us---" Yuri was cut off.

"No, no, I'm coming." She turned to the merchant and was about to give him back the book she was reading, but he insisted that she keep it. She thanked him and followed behind us.

"Is that book interesting?" I asked.

"Yes! It's fascinating. You can read it after am done with it." She said cheerfully. I smiled back in returned. We continued on our way towards the gate.

I wasn't paying enough attention in front of me when I suddenly bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry!" I apologize, but the man I bumped into just looked back at me and glared. What was his problem? And what's up with his long white hair?

"Hey, watch were you're going. We don't wanna start a rioted, now do we?" Yuri joked.

"Shut up!" As we approached the gate, without warning, a bell started going off.

"The monsters, the monsters are coming." The guards yelled.

"Everyone quickly get inside the gate." A woman with Indian red hair called out to the people who were rushing to get inside. The guards were pulling at the switches, trying to close the Hold. "No, hold the gate. There are still others outside."

Yuri, Estelle and I rushed over to see the problem. "Are those...monsters?" Estelle was shocked.

"Yes! And a hold lot of them." This wasn't good. At this rated the towns people will be trampled on.

"Man, we just left the capital and now this happens? That's it, I'm cursed...I know it." Yuri was not making the situation better.

"Oh no, the gate?" The red head woman cried as she could do nothing to hold the gate open longer. Yuri, Repede and I all ran up to help the other residence. Repede went up and knock the guard off the switch that held the Hold open. It stopped descending and we all rush out to help.

"Estelle you stay behind and---Hey?" Estelle didn't listen to Yuri. Instead she ran passed him and headed towards a wounded man. I followed behind her.

"You go help the girl." I ordered. This wasn't the time to complain. Yuri obliged and went to help her.

"I can't move my feet. Oww...The monsters...The monsters!" The men cried in fear.

"I'll heal you." With her concentration a green glow envelop the men's feet and he stood up in surprise.

"Hey, my leg fells better." He remarked.

"You can thank us later, hurry." I grabbed hold of his hand and dragged him into the Hold. Estelle followed behind, along with Yuri and the little girl.

"You alright?" Yuri asked.

"My bear, my mama's bear." She cried as he pointed to a small stuff bear still lying outside of the Hold. I saw Estelle run right past me, but Yuri stopped her.

"Let go of me!" She commanded. I knew she wanted to help, but was she stupid enough to get herself killed.

"You stay here. Aero look after her!" Yuri said as he rush back out to the fielded were the monster were only meters away. I ran up behind Estelle to hold her back and notice the guards were lowering the gate again.

"Oh no, Yuri, hurry!" Estelle screamed. My heart was pounding. I saw him running back towards us with the stuff bear in his hand, but...was he gonna make it?

"YURI!?" I screamed. I—I didn't want him to die, but the residence...? As the gate closed, Yuri came sliding in from under the last small gap. I could hear the monsters banging against the gate.

"Yuri!" Estelle ran up to him and helped him to his feet.

I also came to him and grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Yuri, are you all right? You not hurt, are you---" I spotted myself after that. Yuri looked at me funny and I let go of him and turned around. My cheeks were flushed from embarrassment. Awkward...I never really use to care much about his safety, but...was that only because I knew his life was never endanger while he lived in the capital?

Yuri walked up to the little girl and returned her stuffed bear. Her mother came up behind her and held her tight. "Oh, thank you so much. How can I ever repay you?" The women thanked him and Yuri waved back with a shy smile.

The other men, that both I and Estelle helped, came up and bowed at Estelle. "If it wasn't for you I'd probably be dead, thank you." Repede came up from behind me and sat down. Afterwards, everyone left, leaving us in the moment.

"I'm glad that everyone is safe, especially you Yuri." Estelle sighed with relief. "Woah!" she fell to the ground.

"Exhausting, huh?" I said as I sat down next to her. Yuri leans against a wall.

"I just wasn't expecting something like this to happen, that's all." She inhaled a huge breath.

"That's way you can never let your guard down, even in places like the capital, because you never know what's gonna hit ya." I stated as I looked up at the clouds.

"I don't understand? Why not put up a barrier blastia here?" She wondered.

"That because blastia are precious resources." Yuri answered. "They're rare and hard to find."

"That's right! The technology for blastia has been lost for centuries and you can only find them by excavating ruined sites." She sighed in disappointment. Without taking much of a break a guard came up to us.

"Hey, you three? Come with me, I have some question to ask you." He ordered.

"So why don't you let us through? I'll beat these monsters to a pulp with _**these**_ fists of mine." I heard a men grumble from across the street. He was arguing with the other guards and caught the attention of the one that was going to interrogate us. Good thing he did. "You guys cheated us out of the job back there, now we need to blow off some steam." He started to crack his knuckles.

"Halt! You cannot past through the Hold. No one is allowed to past until thing have settled." The guards assembled and stopped them from going any further.

"You dare to stand in the way of the monster hunters?" He sounded angry, now. His partner, I assumed, took hold of his blade and showed off his power, threatening the guards.

"Stop!? Damn, this is why I hate these guild members." They all help up there spears and faugh back.

"Great! Now what are we gonna do." Yuri complained.

"We need to hurry and find, Flynn. He was heading to, Halure." Estelle and I got back on our feet. she brushed off any remaining dirt on her outfit.

"Well, being caught by the knights wouldn't be any fun, so let's find another way through." I advised as I walked towards the tent area.

*

**{Quite the scene}**

"We made quite the scene, didn't we? I was worried that the knights were gonna notice us..." (Aero)

"I told you we couldn't stand out." (Yuri)

"You were the one that just jumped." (Aero)

"I can't just look away when monster are attacking somebody right in front of me, right?" (Yuri)

"Eh heh heh." (Estelle)

"What's so funny?" (Yuri)

"I'm sorry. That sounded just like that way Flynn described you, that's all. He often said that you can never turn a blind eye when someone near you was suffering." (Estelle)

"Well, next time you see him, you tell him that I said he's the same way." (Yuri)

"Eh heh heh, I'll do that." (Estelle)

*

We decided to rest a little at the Inn before coming up with a brilliant idea of finding another way around this Hold.

*

**{NOT worried sick}**

"Hey!" (Yuri)

"Hmmm...What?" (Aero)

"What was up with you earlier?" (Yuri)

"What was up with me, what?" 'hesitating' (Aero)

"You were acting strange...? Oh, I get it. You were worried about me. Ahh, how cute!" (Yuri)

"Wh-what? I wasn't worried about you. I was worried that if you would have died I'd end up taking care of Estelle all by myself. It would have been hard with only me, Estelle and Repede, that's all. 'blush' (Aero)

"Ok, I see. So in other words...You were worried about me." (Yuri)

"I WAS NOT!" (Aero)

"Ahh, your face is all flustered." (Yuri)

"SHUT UP!" 'runs away' (Aero)

*

When we were finish resting up we met up at the base of the hill, were the Inn was located in town. As I arrived I notice the women with red hair talking to Yuri...

"Hey you had some pretty nifty skills back there. How bout' you come and work for me. I'll pay you of course." The Indian haired women pulled out a small bag of money, but Yuri just seems to ignore her.

"Hey, show some manners in front of the president." Her 'minion' responded as he move forward.

"Why should I if I don't even know who you are." Yuri continued to look away.

"Why, you---" Before he could say anything else his master stopped him.

"You're as charming as I expected my names Kaufman of the merchant's guild, The Fortunes Market." Rumbling could be heard from the gates of the town. Seem the monsters were still going at it. "You see am in a tight spot and I could use someone of your expertise."

"Guild, huh...Sorry, but am all ready on a tight schedule, myself. So I'm gonna hafta' politely decline." Yuri started to walk pass Kaufman. Both Estelle and I followed.

"You won't be able to pass through the plains as long as the, Lord is out." She confirmed.

"The Lord?" Estelle asked.

"She must be talking about, the Lord of the Plains, Brucis. He's the leader of the pack of monsters that just attacked the town." I remember someone telling me about him once. A traveller that stopped by in Zaphias.

"That's right, and as long as he's out there you won't be getting out of the village to continue your journey for a while." She seemed a little proud of herself. Estelle was suddenly up in her face.

"I don't have that type of time on me...I'm gonna go get a second opinion." And then she ran off. Repede grumbled a little and decided to follow her, just to make sure she didn't get herself into trouble.

"You're a merchant's guild, aren't you? I would assume you guys know a bunch of alternate route that could bring us to Halure?" I had to ask. It was our only hope left and I too didn't want to waste too much time here either.

"Hmmm...I seem to like the lot of ya, so here's a tip. Try cutting through the Quoi Woods. It'll bring you to the far side of the other plain." She scratched the bottom of her chin and wink at Yuri.

"Thanks, I owe you one. Maybe I'll even think of looking up on that job description you offer. The next time we meet." Yuri waved good-bye and walk away to find Estelle and Repede.

"You're not serious about joining that guild are you?" I was a little peeved.

"I might...Why? You got a problem with that?" He looked down at me with that evil teasing grin. Arg...he really ticks me off sometimes.

"N-no...not exactly."

*

**{Guilds}**

"That woman who gave us directions---she said she was in a guild, right?" (Yuri)

"That was Kaufman of, Fortune's Market." (Aero)

"Man... Giving up their right as imperial citizens and just...living free..." (Yuri)

"Yuri, are you interested in the guilds?" (Aero)

"Interested? Nah, I've just never had much contact with them. Back in the capital there weren't any greedy guild types who'd refuse the knights' protection...but there is you." (Yuri)

"Hey, don't go making things up in your mind, now, just because I refuse the knights' and tease around with them doesn't make me part of a guild. And beside will probably run into other guild members, anyways." (Aero)

"I hope there a little less aggressive then you and that women was...Smack...Oww!" 'rubs head' (Yuri)

*

We soon found Estelle and told her about the information we got. After stocking up on Apple and Orange Gels we headed out towards the west of the hills, were the Quoi Woods laid.

**Alright! Finish Chp.4...Man when I was working on this today I didn't know 5 hours had went by whlie writing this...Crazy O.o Only felt like 1. Anyways, The same rules applies like all the rest. Please R & R. And I'll have the next chp. up as soon as I can. Summer Break, ya know! XD**


	5. The Quoi Wood's and the Boy Wonder

Chapter 5: The Quoi Woods and the Boy Wonder!?!

After a long, but flightless, travel towards our destination we finally arrived at the forest. It was a pretty enclosed area; with lots of trees and plants...It almost seemed peaceful. I don't see why people don't like to travel through these woods?

"_I heard that these woods are cursed!_" Estelle shivered in fear.

Ahh....that must be why..."Come on, Estelle, you really don't believe in that bull crap superstitious stuff, do you?" I waved my hand up into the air in disbelief.

"_Yes, I do. I heard that whoever enters these woods is never seen again._" She looked around in horror thinking that something will jump out at her and drag her away.

"Oh, boy..." Yuri signed. "What '**Tales of**' story did you read that out of?" He looked up to see that she was still shaking. Again, he signed and decided to comfort her. "Come, now, you'll be just fine. You have both Aero, Repede AND myself to protect you." He patted her on the shoulder. Suddenly rustling could be heard in the bushes around us.

"AHHHH! Oh, no it's the curse." Estelle fell to her knees and closed her eyes and ears, as if shutting the world around her out.

Within seconds Yuri and I were armed and surrounded Estelle as a group of Filifolias' and Tulipers' came rushing at us. Repede took out the outer mass of the enemy, while Yuri killed off the ones in front of him with his Fang Strike. I finish of the rest with some left over bomb I had in my pouch.

"Now, I understand." I said as I returned my daggers to their holders. "The reason why people think this forest is cursed is probably because of all the monsters. They probably come to the forest unprepared and they end up dying at the hands of them."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" She seem to shyly come out of her little cocoon faze as she heard me talk.

"Yeah, I agreed with Aero, now if we're done here I think maybe we should continue on. We don't wanna miss Flynn, now do we?"

I knew Yuri was only saying that because he knew it would make Estelle follow.

"N-no...your right." She shook off any other sign of fear and followed CLOSELY behind us.

*

**{Watch and Learn} **

"You look very good swinging a sword, Yuri." (Estelle)

"You're not bad yourself, Estelle." (Yuri)

"Really? My swordmaster used to scold me terribly..." (Estelle)

"Well, I have to admit I'd be surprised if you look TOO natural." (Yuri)

"I really don't like fighting...I don't like hurting people..." (Estelle)

"How ladylike of you." (Yuri)

"But if I don't fight, I'll end up hurt, myself, right?" (Estelle)

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it works." (Yuri)

"I wish I could enjoy fighting like you do, Yuri." (Estelle)

"You think I enjoy this?" 'blades can be heard clinking in the background' (Yuri)

"Die you retarded, Mandragora!" (Aero)

"Well, it seem, Aero enjoys killing them." (Estelle)

"Yeah, well...she always had a mental disability of killing thing...Smack!" 'blade hits Yuri upside the head' (Yuri)

"I can hear you." (Aero)

"Eheh heh heh...Well I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy fighting? I mean, the way your eyes shine... That only happens when you're fighting." 'helps Yuri to his feet' (Estelle)

"O-oh, really?...That's pretty observant of you." 'blush' (Yuri)

"Yes, I like watching people." (Estelle)

"Hmph...That doesn't surprise me." 'walks by with a dead Mandragora over her shoulder' (Aero)

*

As we venture through the Quoi Woods we battle our way through, gaining gald and additional new attack skills. I'd say we were doing just fine. Personally I don't believe any curses or back luck hocas pocus', but by the looks of Estelle constant shaking and Yuri's on-guard stances, I'd say those two make a sacred-in-there-pants set. "Well...at least I have Repede to keep me company if anything were to happen to Yuri and Estelle."

"We can hear you...?" Yuri glares afar from me.

"Ohh...Well, as long as you know..." I walk away not really caring much.

*

**{The Curse, as Estelle Knows it} **

"Will this forest really gets us on the other side of the Hold?" 'worries' (Estelle)

"If it doesn't, we'll just come back." (Yuri)

"...But what if I get turned into a frog or a snake by the forest's curse!?" (Estelle)

"If that happen, I'll take care of you." (Yuri)

"Woah...You'll take — care of her? I never knew Yuri had a heart?" (Aero)

"Really, Yuri?" (Estelle)

"Of course I would. Don't worry. I had pet frogs and snakes when I was a kid." (Yuri)

"Never mind, I take it back." 'walks away' (Aero)

"If you got turned into a frog or a snake, Yuri, I wouldn't have any idea what to feed you..." (Estelle)

*

"Oh, man...My legs are killing me, they feel like tooth picks that's been gabbed between a rock and a hard place. Hey, Yuri, let's take a break, pleeeeeeease." I begged, which I normally don't do, but all of a sudden my whole body feels heavy. I was practically dragging myself around the whole forest.

"Quit yer winning. First Estelle, and now you! Can't you wait till we reach the other side of the woods before you start complaining?" Yuri was definitely becoming irritated by both mine and Estelle actions. Well it wasn't my entire fault; half way through the woods Estelle started telling us the tale of the curse.

"The voices of corpses buried beneath the trees creep up and lure us to our doom..." Estelle continued.

"Oh, brother..." Yuri signed. "You two are just full of stories aren't cha?" Yuri payed no mind and attention to us as he continued on into a wide open spaced area of the forest, until something caught his eye. "Is that a blastia? What's it doing in a place like this?" He cautiously walks over to investigate.

"A blastia?...In a forest?" This is weird? I never knew they started putting blastia up in the forest's, now? I carefully walk up and examined it, without touching it of course. "Hmmm...It seems to have just recently been broken?" I notice that Estelle was creeping her way over towards us, taking her sweet time in doing so.

"Whatever it is, we shouldn't be playing with it. Let's just keep going." Yuri got up from kneeling and started to walk back into the bushes.

"R-right..." Estelle took in a deep breath before continuing on, but something seems to catch her eye. "Huh? What's this...?" As she approach she kneeled down and press her hand forward. Suddenly a large flashing light covered the area. "Aaaah!" She yelled, falling to the ground unconscious.

"Estelle!?" Both Yuri and I rush to her side.

"Aero help me carry he over to the wider area. Repede, sorry boy, but am gonna need you to do me a favour." I helped Yuri carry Estelle over to where Repede was lying and gentle placed her down. "We're gonna need some fire wood. Could you..."

"Am on it." I flicker him an A-ok hand signed and rush in to gather some wood.

"_What ever happen to 'my feet are killing me...T-T'_" Yuri chuckled silently in a girly voice.

I came back with a handful of dry wood and quickly starting setting up. With some left over matches, remind me to buy more, I lit the fire up. After making sure it would stay burning I curled up beside Yuri. "Guess what?" I asked. "You'll never believe what I saw."

Yuri chuckled a little to himself before asking. "What? What is it that you saw?" Most times I'm quite mature for my age, but sometimes I let my childish side take the better of me, plus it seems to always brighten up the mood around me.

"There was this huge Dragonfly looking monster in the back of the woods. It was surrounded by this beautiful field of flower." I made a circular motion with my hands to prove and emphasize my point. Yuri just shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah got it, magical dragonfly monster in a field of flower. I think someone needs a nap." He patted me on the head as if I were a child telling my parents a ghost story.

"No, no I'm telling the truth." I grimace. Yuri tens to never believe half of the stories I tell him. "I did see this huge monster."

"Sure ya did." Yuri grabbed me by my neck and yanked me down to his lap. "You told me before that you were tired and needed some rest. Why don't you get some shut eye, while we wait for Estelle to wake up." I could feel my face heat up. I knew Yuri was nothing but nice...well only when no one else can see him. I smiled, but it WAY to embarrassing to sleep in his lap. I yanked myself out from under his grip and layed back-to-back on him.

"You know what; I'll take you up on that offer. Wake me when we're leaving...and DON'T leave me behind...again." I could feel him laughing. I smiled once more before drifting off to sleep.

"_Mama...Where are you going?"_ Wait...I know where I am. And I know who that is.

"_I'll be gone for just a little while. You be a good girl while am gone, alright." _This women patted me on the head, but this women was none other than my mother. And the reason why I feel shorter...is because am a child.

"_Wait, mama don't go...don't go with the bad people...Mama....Mama...Mama_..." Why? Why can't I reach her? She turned back one more time before disappearing.

"_My Aero...Aero_....AERO, WAKE UP!?"

"WOAH!?" I yelled as my hand hit something hard.

"...Smack...Owww...what was that for?" It was Yuri!

"Oh, Yuri am sorry, but you startled me." Yes...I was blaming him...It was his fault.

"Oww...Anyways, Estelle is up." He rubbed his jaw and helped me up to my feet. I rubbed off any remaining sleep I had left over in my eyes and walk over to Estelle.

"How are you feeling?" I bent down to reach the same level as her.

"Much better, thanks to both of you." She smiled. I smiled in returned and heard my stomach grumbling.

"Ah...I think am hungry." I sweat drop and stood back up.

"Here!" I turned to see Yuri handing me an orange color fruit.

"Thanks!" I chimed as I grasp the fruit out of his hand and took a huge bite out of it. "...Yuck! What the hell you trying to do, Yuri, poison me." I could see him laughing in front of me. Soon he was right up in my face.

"Now, we're even." And, again, he walked away laughing. I growled to myself and walked over to where everyone was sitting. "Here! Bonne appetite, it's not much, but hey it's food."

"Wow, Yuri this is good." Estelle said with a cute little smile on her face.

"You're smiling about Rice Balls...? It could be poison for all I know." Suddenly something flew under my feet and I fell on my face. "Owww..."

"Ah, come on, Aero! You gotta stop falling for me." Yuri smirked mischievously.

"_Grrrr...am gonna kill you. And to think I called you nice_." I pulled my face out of the ground. After we were done eating and we made sure we were all equip properly before heading out.

*

**{The Ripples Know the Way} **

"We can't seem to find our way out of this forest at all. Oh! Could this be the curse?! What should we do, you two?! There really was a curse after all!" (Estelle)

"Don't be stupid..." (Yuri)

"Now, now...I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the curse. We just, kinda, lost our why." (Aero)

"Then what do you suggest we do about it?" (Estelle)

"That my dear is a very good question. I happen to know the best navigational trick." (Aero)

"Oh, really...? Now, this, I gotta see." (Yuri)

"Uh huh, now all we need is some water. A puddle would do just fine, especially a muddy one." (Aero)

"Oh! There's one over there." 'everyone follows' (Estelle)

"Perfect! Now, the ripples of the water have this amazing power of pointing you in the right direction." (Aero)

"I don't see know ripples...Smack..." 'falls into puddle' (Yuri)

Ahhhh...There's the ripples I was looking for, and there telling us to go this way. Come along, Estelle!?" 'pulls her away while laughing' (Aero)

"I—REALLY—hate that girl..." (Yuri)

"Whine..." (Repede)

*

After cutting our why through the woods we finally made it to the exit....In one piece, but nothing is ever easy going.

*

**{Thanking Repede}**

"Repede, when I passed out, you laid down and made the nicest pillow for me. Thank you very much!" (Estelle)

"...What are you doing?" (Yuri)

"I'm...um, thanking Repede..." (Estelle)

"Repede? He's not here..." 'looks around' (Yuri)

"Huh? Wh-what?...Maybe he doesn't like me." (Estelle)

"Nah, he acts like that with just about everybody." (Yuri)

"But, earlier, I saw Aero praising him and playing with him?" (Estelle)

"Well...Aero has five years of experience with him and you only just met him." (Yuri)

"Oh, I guess your right...Well then, I'll just have to keep trying until he accepts me!" (Estelle)

*

As we approached the exit we could hear rustling in the bushes...again. "Now, what?" I was really starting to get agitated. Not only me, but Repede was growling pretty nasty, too.

"Hmm?" Yuri and Estelle turned their attention towards the sound.

"P-prepare to die, Eggbear!" Came this little shaky voice behind the bush. Suddenly this little boy came jumping out and shouted. He pulled out this huge sword, which was a tenth of his size, and started swinging out of control.

He...he was..."_Sooooo cute!"_ I totally blushed.

"Waaaah!" He yelled as he continued to spin out of control. I notice Yuri un-sheathed his sword and wedged his blade into the ground, knocking the kid off balance and landed on his back. "Owww...." Repede walked up to him and started sniffing. "Ahhhhh!? I--I'm warning you! I don't taste very good. You'll get the runs!" He cried as he layed on the ground.

"Woof...!" Repede barked.

"Oh my gosh, s-s-somebody h-h-help me--! Aaaaah!!" He continued to whale.

"Is this kid for really?" Yuri signed as he walked over to pick up his sword and haltered it away.

"Shhh...It's all right, now." Estelle tried to calm the boy down.

"Huh? The monster turned into a girl?" The little boy looked up at Estelle, who kneeled down next to him.

"Oh, brother. This should be interesting." Yuri, once again, signed.

"Ahhh...He's sooooo cute!" I walked over to see him with my hands in my chest as my eyes sparkled with cuteness.

"And here come the fireworks." Yuri shook his head.

After helping him up he seemed to settle down a little. "Who are you?" I asked with a big smile on my face.

"I'm Karol Capel! I'm a member of the Hunting Blades guild. We travel the globe in search of the toughest monsters." Karol introduces himself. Did I forget to mention....How cute he is! 3

"I'm Yuri, and this is Estelle and Aero. And you've met Repede already..." Yuri also introduced. "Well then, it was nice meeting you, but we've gotta go." He started to walk away.

"Yuri, wait..." Estelle tried to stop him, but failed. She turned back around and bowed. "I apologize."

"Yuri...why are you being so rude?" I asked. I was starting to get tired of him.

"Well, sorry...but he was the one that stumbled in on us." He did have a point.

"But that's still no way to treat a child." I stepped in front of him and cross my arms.

"Oh, SORRY, I forgot---Hey kid do ya went a lollipop?"

"SMACK!"

"Oww...."

"H-hey, if you guys are just about to go into the woods, then i'll---" Karol tried to help, but Estelle cut him off.

"We're sorry, but we've just came through here." She told him.

"WHAT? You guys made it through the cursed woods? You didn't happen to see any Eggbear, did ya?" He was surprised.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Estelle asked me.

"Nope." I shook my shoulders.

"Now if you don't mind we're on our way to Halure, so if you'll EXCUSE us..." Yuri emphasized the EXCUSE to show me his politeness.

"_Hmmm...If they didn't see any Eggbear, maybe I should return to the village. I shouldn't keep them waiting. Yeah, I'll do that!" _Karol tried his best to whisper to himself, but we could obviously hear him. "Ok, I'm not too sure you three would make it on your own, but never fear. The star member of the Hunting Blades will be your escort." He announces. "See that...I've even got my own blastia!" He showed off, but then he notice that we were also equip with one. "What? You guys all have one, too? O-oh yeah? Well how' dya like this?!" He pulled out a book. Yuri walked over to open it. I looked over his shoulders.

"It has information about monsters. Hm? After a certain point, all the pages are blank." I pointed out. Yuri shook his head to agree with me.

"Th-that's 'cause I'm gonna fill it up with piles of monsters after this." He nervously explained.

I looked down at the ground and notice that he's sword was snapped in two. "Oh no, your pour sword."

"Oh, that?" He bent down to pick it up. "I had to give myself some kinda handicap, or else it wouldn't have been a fair fight. Hey, that's actually not too bad." He started to test it out. Cute! XD

"Hey, Karol right? Why don't you come with us until we get to Halure. We could use a strong fighter like you." I turned around and winked at the others. Estelle giggled, while Yuri shook his head.

"Of course, I'd love to join you. I will protect any fair maidens in distress." He proudly said. I could have died of his cuteness. Sure a lot of the children back at Zaphias were cute, but he cuts the cake.

"Oh, brother. All right, King Arthur, let's go." Yuri silently mocked him. I glared, but allowed it to slide, since I was, NOW, in a good mood. I love children, but not in a child molester way. I love them to a point where they're the ones giving me all my energy. And besides...Yuri was starting to become a downer. This little one will definitely make this journey more exciting.

With all of us set, we ventured out of the woods and finally onto the plains of blue sky and brighter, greener scenery. For a moment I stopped and turned around...I could have sworn I heard a weird sound coming from within the forest, but...It wasn't from the monsters, or the wind...? Hm?

*

**{Even Dogs Have Pride}**

"I don't understand Repede. He's a dog, with claws and fangs, but he uses weapons...?" (Karol)

"Grr...Woof!" (Repede)

"Yeah. I guess dogs do usually fight with claws and fangs." (Yuri)

"Huh? But Repede's a dog, isn't he?" (Estelle)

"Woof, woof!" (Repede)

"Repede is Repede." (Aero)

"What does that mean..." (Karol)

"Woof woof! WOOF!" (Repede)

"Whatever he is, Repede doesn't think of himself as a dog. That's why he uses weapons and items. But that's not to say that he thinks of himself as human, either." (Yuri)

"...I don't really understand...But he seems very proud." (Estelle)

"Woof!" (Repede)

"Yep! So show him some respect!" (Yuri)

"...Hey, Yuri. Are you translating what Repede's saying?" (Karol)

"Nah...it's just your imagination." (Yuri)

"Trust me, I've been trying to figure that one out for years..." 'whispers to Karol' (Aero)

*

It was gonna take us some time to arrive in Halure, with all the monsters roaming, but with Yuri blade, Karol's map, Repede speed, Estelle's healing and my incredible good looks we were gonna be just fine.

*

**{Friends Make the Journey Fun}**

"Having friends to talk to really makes traveling a lot more fun! When I'm by myself, I get a little scare—uh, I mean, bored!" 'hesitates' (Karol)

"Yeah, mm-hmm. Hey, Karol, there's a monster behind you." (Yuri)

"What?!" 'runs away' (Karol)

"Oh, my mistake. I must be seeing things." (Yuri)

"D-don't do that!" 'comes back' (Karol)

"Yuri! Stop teasing him." 'throws an item at him' (Aero)

"Woah!" 'ducks' (Yuri)

"Listen. Karol, if Yuri starts to tease you just come and get me---I'll beat him up for ya!" (Aero)

"Hah...'snorts'...as if..." (Yuri)

"You got something to say, than say it!" 'fist at the ready' (Aero)

"Our trip just got more lively." (Estelle)

"Woof!" (Repede)

*

**Few! Man, I finally finish this chapter! Sorry, I was gone on vacation to Quebec to see my family and couldn't bring my laptop with me...but it's ok now, since I FINISH IT! XD I very pleased with this chapter, since Karol is finally in it! He's my favourite child character! 3 Anyways the same rules apply here. Please R & R. Hope to write to ya soon.**


	6. Halure and the revival of the Great Tree

Chapter 6: Halure and the Revival of the Greet Tree!?!

As minutes turned into hours, we journeyed our way to Halure. As Karol talked about how much better his sword was easier to use we finally made it to the city of blossoms.

"So...This is Halure, The city of blossoms?" Estelle walked passed me to look up and observe the large tree in the center of the city.

"Isn't there usually a barrier blastia here?" Yuri was right. Where is the blastia that's supposed to protect the town?

"This must be your first time in Halure." Karol walked past us and turned to face us. "Every year, around this time in the season, the barrier blastia in the tree weakens just before the tree blossoms. That's why you can't see it at the moment." Karol explained. Yuri looked around at the town and could see that a lot of the town's people were injured.

"It's not helping much if everyone around here is hurt." I could see the pain in his eyes just by looking at all the injured people. "Also, which even gets me, how come there's a blastia in the tree?"

"Some blastia fuse to the plant life, gain organic qualities and evolve." I answered. I might be a thief, but it doesn't mean I don't educate myself once in a while. "The tree barrier in Halure is one prime example of this."

"Well, thank you professor." Yuri teased, but I didn't care much. What concerned me more were the people in town?

"So, let me see if I can get this right. As the barrier is down the monsters outside of town can come in and attack. That's way everyone is hurt." I asked.

"Right! But...As the monsters were taken care of, the tree is slowly starting to decay for some reason?" Karol looked away from our gaze. He must feel sorry for the tree. Suddenly a small girl ran by us. "Hey!?" She seem to have caught Karol's attention. "Sorry, guys, but I have something to do. Later." And he ran off after her.

"Well then, since he's gone why don't we gather informa—" Before Yuri could finish Estelle, also, ran past him and went over to help the injured. "Doesn't she understand the term of 'keeping a low profile'?" He signed. "And what about, Flynn?"

"Bah! Who cares about, Flynn anyways. He's a big boy now. I'm pretty sure he'll live without you by his side for a while. He is a commander, now." I walked away from Yuri, seeing as I don't like talking about, HIM.

*

**{Who is This Karol Kid?}**

"This Karol guy is kinda weird." (Yuri)

"WHAT? He isn't weird – you're the weird one and beside, he's cute. So what if he's a little restless, that doesn't make him a bad person." 'Glares' (Aero)

"He doesn't seem evil, but I bet ya he's got some weird though going on in his head." (Yuri)

"You're only saying that because you can see some of yourself in him." (Aero)

"You think the two of us are alike?" (Yuri)

"Yeah...you could say that you both have huge egos and won't allow yourselves to show them to others around you. So I can't find it in my heart to dislike him. (Aero)

"Huh..." (Yuri)

"Wha-what?" (Aero)

"So you're saying that you like me and my huge ego-ness?" 'Tease' (Yuri)

"N-NO WAY! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!" 'Runs away while blushing' (Aero)

*

I walked over to where Estelle was healing a bunch of people. I could see that she was being praised and admire for her kindness and nobility. I also notice that there was something strange about the way she was healing everyone? Yuri came up beside me. "Have you notice something strange about the way she uses that arte?" I asked.

"Yeah, I have, but I'm still trying to figure it out." Yuri pondered.

"We should keep a close eye on her." I finished as I walked up to her.

"Right!"

"Everyone, the people of this town just told me that, Flynn was here." Great!

"Oh and where is he now?" Yuri asked.

"Well, I heard he helped the people here fight off the monsters." Estelle said. "They told him about the tree and he insisted that he helps, so he's gone to The City of Scholars, to bring back a mage."

"I see, so why don't we wait here for him?"

"What? But what about the blastia thief?"

"We have enough time to spare here and beside, I'm pretty good at tracking down other thieves." I made sure to give her a promising answer. Though I didn't like that fact that I'd meet up with Flynn, it's the price I have to pay. "While we're waiting why don't we go check out the tree?"

"Yeah, I was just about to suggest that." Yuri said.

"Alright! That sounds like a good idea." As Estelle joined us we headed to the base of the tree. While on our way a couple of children were huddle around in front of us.

"Yeah! Now we all have weapon." The red head kid spoke.

"Now we can beat up those monsters." The dark haired kid said.

"Let's go beat them up like, Flynn did." The light brown kid finish. And they all ran pass.

"We should hurry." Estelle said.

"Yeah, before Flynn's influence ends up killing those pour children." I said blankly as I walked up to the tree.

"That's not what I meant." Estelle fussed, but continued her way up the hill. We arrived at the base of the tree and we all looked up at it.

"Woah! This tree is huge...and so beautiful, even if it isn't in bloom." I looked up to the very tip of the tree in awed.

"Yes, I know how you feel. There's something about the image of a tall tree vibrant with blossoms and protecting the city that's so...romantic." Estelle replied as she also looked at the tree in awed.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about?" Yuri stared at us as if we were crazy or something.

"That's because you're a man...and man don't understand what romance really is, OR feels like." I stared back blankly for a moment and turned back my attention to the pour tree.

"Uh huh..." He ignored us and continued to view the tree to see what the problems was. "I'm not too sure what's wrong with it, but in the shape it's in now it might not even make it pass this year...?" Yuri scratched the bottom of his chin in thought.

As I looked back at the top of the hill I notice Karol coming up in a slump, a little slouched over...he seemed down? As he approached us he looked up.

"If you guys are wondering why the trees dying I already know why..." He responded slouchy. Are curiosity turned to him. "See the color of the ground." Yuri kneeled down and took a closer look.

"It's red!?"

"Bingo! That's from the monster." He looked up with his sad eyes. "Some monsters blood can be poisoness."

"Gasp! Then the poison is what's making the tree sick?" Estelle gasped.

"Most likely."

"Then what do we do to heal it?" I asked coming up to Karol and looking him in the eye for help.

"Ah...You'll need a Panacea Bottle. That should do the trick." Before we could say anything Karol ran off.

"Well we better make our way to a General Store." Yuri suggested. We all agreed and made our way down the hill.

*

**{The Tree of Halure}**

"I can't wait until the tree's blossoms are in full bloom. It'll be fantastic..." (Estelle)

"I bet there's a flood of petals big enough to just sweep you away." 'thinks dreamily' (Aero)

"All those petals dancing in the breeze... It'd be like a dream..." (Estelle)

"I wonder how they deal with all their houses getting buried in flowers every year. That's gotta be a pain to clean up." 'Estelle and Aero pout at him' (Yuri)

"You're a real kill joy, ya know that?" 'fumes' (Aero)

*

As we came to a small hill with an opening, the General Store manager greeted us. "Welcome how may I be of serves?" He welcomed us with a big cheesy grin.

"We were wonder if you sold Panacea Bottle?" Yuri asked, but the man gave us a very disappointed look.

"Sorry, but we're all sold out, just gave it to the group of knights not too long ago." He shook his head in a sorry manner.

"Damn! Now what are we gonna do?" I asked as I bit the edge of my nail in frustration. The manager waved his hand to catch our attention once more.

"You know, I could make you one if I had the proper ingredients." He suggested.

"All right, what is it that you need?"

"I need three ingredients: "Eggbear claw", "Nia fruit" and some "Luluria petals"." He listed everything on a small piece of paper and handed it to Estelle. "If you bring me all three of these materials I can whip you up a Panacea in no time." He smiled. "But, if you don't mind me asking, why do you need a Panacea so badly."

"We're trying to heal the Halure tree." Estelle answered.

"With a Panacea, never heard of that one before, what make you so sure I'll work?"

"Just a hunch." Yuri plainly answered as we took our leave. We gather around the bridge to decide what our next plan of action would be.

"Ok, so we need an Eggbear claw, which we can probably find in the Quoi woods, but what's a Nia fruit?" Estelle wondered as she has never heard of this fruit, and for someone who read all her life.

"Y' know, that nasty fruit I fed Aero in the woods...Ouch!" Thanks for remind me. I slammed my foot hard down on his.

"Oh, well what about this Luluria petal?"

"We can find those at the base of the Halure tree. It's one of the tree flower petals that bloom on the tree." Estelle turned to look at me in surprise.

"Wow, Aero, you really know your stuff."

"Just something I picked out of a book." I blush at her compliment, turning away.

"Ah, hello? Remember the tree is dying, so I don't think will find any petals around it." Yuri pointed out rudely, but he was right. "We should probably start off by getting the Nia fruit and Eggbear claw first so we can get that out of our way. We'll deal with finding those petals later." As if on cue Karol came walking by. "Karol you coming?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Not only was he confuse, but Estelle and I were also a little bit quer-fuzzled.

"Remember? "Prepare to die Eggbear!" Yuri recalled as he tried to impersonate, what I believe was suppose to be Karol, but failed horribly as it made him sound like a little girl, which made me giggled.

"You mean you actually believe what I said about the Panacea Bottle." Karol almost looked astonish as if he though no one would believe him.

"Yeah, so pack some clean underwear, cuz' we're going Eggbear huntin'." God, Yuri can you be any more embarrassing. But I was glad enough to have the lot of us together again. It makes this trip more fun.

*

**{The Impersonator} **

"Hey, Yuri, nice...ahh...school girl impersonation, you practicing in becoming a comedian?" (Aero)

"Huh? What are you talking...?" (Yuri)

"You know the part where you _**tried**_ to sound like Karol" 'giggles' (Aero)

"Oh, are you saying you can do better?" (Yuri)

"Why yes, yes I can. I mean I can impersonate a mean Flynn whenever I wanna prank yo---Opps!" (Aero)

"That was YOU! You're the one that's been toying with me a couple of weeks ago? Pretending to be Flynn to pull me around all through the city to do you dirty work..." 'twitches angrily' (Yuri)

"Now, Yuri, take it easy. It was all fun and games. We should talk-this-over..." 'backs up into a corner' (Aero)

"OH, I'll have fun playing this game...Now, who should I impersonate next" 'pushes her into the darkness' (Yuri)

"AHHHHHHHH!?" (Aero)

*

Leaving Halure we come to the vase open fields of the Peyoccia Plains. Backtracking to the Quoi Woods we were attack by a couple of Minicoid's and Axe Beak, but the more monsters we kill the more knowledge will end up in our monster book. Karol himself has already a good handful of information on them, but will just help him out along the way. We've also learned a couple new spells and artes. I'd say we're doing quite well; then again Yuri could stop taking all the damn glory after every battle...dumb ass.

*

**{Karol and Repede}**

"Wha-what's the matter, Repede?" (Karol)

"Grrrr..." (Repede)

"Wh-why are you mad? H-hold on! You...you don't want to eat me, do you?!" 'Repede walks away growling while Karol duck for cover' "H-help me, Yuri!" (Karol)

"Something the matter, Karol?" 'walks in' (Yuri)

"It's...it's nothing. Heh, ha ha ha ha..." (Karol)

"Talk about mood swings…" (Yuri)

*

Finally we made our way back to the woods, still the same damp, gloomy place as we left it. But it seems to feel a lot easier to breath; maybe it was because of that blastia we found...? Who knows? But something tells me this is just the beginning of something much greater to come. Walking through many of its trails Karol decided to bring up a very unusual conversation.

"Hey, I've been wondering...?" Karol started up turning so he was facing us all. He was in front of the group.

"Uh oh, he's been wondering. QUICK! Let's hide." Yuri fooled. Irritated I pinched him. "Oww, what was that for?" Rubbing his forearm.

"Every time you make fun of Karol, I'll pinch you. And it'll get harder if you keep this up. He was trying to tell us something, don't be rude." I crossed my arms while Yuri gave me a blank glare.

"What are you, my mother?" he pouted.

"A-anyways as I was saying...How come you guys--and Repede too, I guess—all have blastia? Aren't bohdi blastia pretty rare? I didn't think many people could get them." Karol asked us as he pointed out our blastia. Mine liked to hang around my neck, like jewellery.

"You have one too, though." Yuri relaxed himself in his usual position, hips to the right with his hand right gently caressing it, _little girly if you ask me_, BUT that Yuri for ya.

"I belong to a guild. Sometimes we get a chance to get one. And Ruins' Gate gets finding more. That a guild that excavates blastia."

"Huh, there are even guild that dig up blastia from ruins?"

"If there weren't, then the empire would control all blastia. Normal folks wouldn't get any."

"The empire regulates the ancient blastia artifacts due to their potential danger." There she goes again; our little Miss Estellise is full of knowledge. "I think that makes sense. If blastia weren't regulated, anyone could use dangerous magic."

"But they've gone way overboard. They have a monopoly." I decided to join this convo. I squeezed myself through Yuri and Estelle, turning my attention towards Estelle.

"Uh, I don't know about..." Estelle was at a loss for words. Yuri seems to have gotten bored of the conversation and started to walk off, until Karol stopped him with more to say.

"So anyways, what's your story? How'd you get yours?"

"I use to be in the Imperial Knights. This was a...going away present." Yuri scratched his cheeks. "Repede got his as a keepsake of his old owner."

"A going-away present? Sounds more like you stole it to me." Karol gave Yuri the same look I was giving him, he was obviously hiding something. Either he sucked ass at being a knight or it just wasn't his thing, maybe there could be more behind it, but I don't want to think too hard on it. I tried asking him myself, why he had stopped, but he told me it was personal so I stopped at that. "...So, what about you Estelle?"

"Uh, I got mine from, uh..." She hesitated, until Yuri stepped in.

"Look at her. She's a noble. They all have these."

"I knew you were a noble. Well at least one of you has some class." Karol chimed. "And what about you, Aero?" He turned to face me last.

"Me? I got mine from...my boss." I took a moment to think it over.

"Your boss? You work for someone?"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen this person in five years." I shrugged it off like nothing happen and walked pass Yuri.

"Five years? Wouldn't you get fired?" For a boy, he asks a lot of question.

"Hmm...Maybe, but that all depends if I ever meet them again." Yuri, again, was bored.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go get that Nia fruit." He waved in the direction to were the blastia was.

*

**{Getting to know Repede}**

"........." (Repede)

"Do you mind if I scratch behind your ears?" 'moves forward'

"........." 'growls while backing away' (Repede)

"Oh, I'm sorry. Guess it's still too soon for me to pet you. Let's start over by getting to know each other a little better." (Estelle)

"........." 'Yawns' (Repede)

"So then...My name is Estellise..." 'Repede walks away' "You knew that already, right?" 'Yuri walks in while looking behind her' "Huh? Repede...?" (Estelle)

"Introducing yourself into an invisible friend?" (Yuri)

"OH, I won't give up!" (Estelle)

*

As we walked into the open area Yuri stopped the Nia fruit. He bent down and obtained it. "Alright, now that we have the fruit we can get the Eggbear Claw. Any ideas, 'Oh, brave leader... 'Pinch'...Oww!?" I warned him.

"Yeah, I do. Pass me that Nia fruit, will ya?" Karol passed out his hand while Yuri dropped it in.

"And why do you need this? Hopefully you're not going to waist it?"

"Oh no! You see eggbear have very unusual taste." Karol swigged his bag around and shuffled through before pulling out a small knife, he place the fruit down on the ground and started poking at the sink, just enough to just pierce through. Suddenly this horrible smell came out of nowhere

"Jeez, you smell horrible." Yuri and the rest of us covered our noses. Repede seems to have flee'd behind us.

"W-what? It not me I swear. It's the fruit, the fruit." Karol quickly stood up and tried to convince us, but as he walked closer we moved backwards.

"It's ok, Karol, we believe you just stay where you are." I tried to keep our distance my putting my arm between us...Wasn't doing much o help since Repede seem to have fainted.

"Oh no, Repede..." Estelle leaned down to check if he was ok.

"He's fine, just being a drama king." Yuri waved his free hand to signal to leave him be. Karol on the other hand seemed to be not fazed by the situation. Does he bath in it or something?

"B-be prepare. The Eggbear could strike at any moment. They're well none for their terrible ferocity." Karol had his weapon at the ready and from where I was standing he was shaking in his boots. Cute! Yuri also picked up on this matter, but I darted him a glare that said _'If you pick on him you know what'll happen'_. He grimaced in disappointment.

"So then, Captain Karol, I assume you'll be leading this charge towards this terrible ferocity monster?" Yuri asked with a snickered.

"Of course, but I could use a hand from everyone." Repede recovered back onto his feet, but was still swaying all over the place. Dogs do have sensitive noses.

"Well then, shall we continue strolling in the woods and see what happens?" Karol nodded at Estelle and started to walk forward, and we followed...VERY far behind. Seriously you could almost see the smell coming off from him. Pour little guy.

*

**{The Nia Fruit}**

"Stupid Nia fruit and your stupid bitter taste, and your stupid smell, and your stupid affect for Yuri to use you to make fun of me, STUPID NIA FRUIT!?" 'fumes' (Aero)

"Whoa! Calm down...why are you yelling anyways...? 'Smack' Ouch! Why do you keep hitting me?" 'rubs head' (Yuri)

"Because you irritate me...Why are these fruit laying on the ground anyways?" (Aero)

"Oh, that'll be the monster in the forest. It's how they mark their territory."(Karol)

"Can we really just take it then?...I suppose there's no way in asking for permission." (Aero)

"Yeah, I don't really speak "Monster". Karol, they don't teach you these stuff in your guild, do they?" (Yuri)

"The Hunting Blades hunt monsters. We don't need to waste time making friends with them." (Karol)

"...That's a shame. It'd be SO cute if I could have a huge giant wolf-like monster as my friend. It'd keep people like that annoying Flynn away." (Aero)

*

We walked almost as far as the other side of the woods, it's not as scary once you go through it a second time...not that am saying I was scared, and there was still no luck at finding this 'Eggbear'. I was just about to give up when we all suddenly heard retiling in the bush.

"B-be on your guard everyone. It's r-really FEROCIOUS." Karol ran behind Yuri, clearly shaking in his boots.

"Ah hey, the star of the group doesn't run behind other like a coward." Yuri looked back at him from behind.

"I-I'm not hiding. Don't you know that the star always delivers the final blow?" He corrected.

"Uh huh!" Yuri didn't believe him one bit and just slogged his sheath off his weapon, preparing himself at the ready. Same go to the rest of us. We all wait anxiously for whatever was going to pop out of the bushes, until all my hopes dropped. A Filifolia...A stinking Filifolia?

"That's it! I give up. I don't even believe this 'Eggbear' even exist. Was it one of your Hunting Blade buddies that told you it hang around this area....?" I walked a little in front of everyone and kept my back to them. "Because I think they gave you some false information. I mean COME ON. We've been at this for hours and the only thing that's annoying me is the way you smell." She meant to point at Karol but ended up pointing towards Yuri, who frowned. Karol seemed to have lost some enthusiasm about all of this, his face turning into a pout. "If there really is an Eggbear then where is it? hmmm? COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE, EGGBEAR!" I shouted. Estelle seemed to have gotten frustrated at my action. "See....Nothing! I mean even an Eggbear couldn't resist my beauty." I didn't notice there was some rustling in behind me, but Yuri and everyone else did. Their eyes want as big as plates.

"Ahhh...Aer---" Yuri push his finger up to Karol to shush him.

"_Shhhhh...Let her figure it out."_ He whispered, smirking.

"HAH! If there was an Eggbear it's probably this little scrawny, weak.........thing----It's standing right behind me...isn't it." I pointed behind myself, to afraid to turn around. Yuri simply smiled wider as he nodded. Then a low growl came from behind my left side. Turn, as if I was rusted, I gulped. "A—hah hah...Nice Eggy-bear." Blinking as innocently as I can, but that didn't seem to help since his expression seemed to deepen.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAWL!?" It roared.

"AHHHH!" I fall back, my entire body slamming hard against the solid ground, shivering in fear. I can't believe I let my guard down...Am so STUPID. "HELP ME!" I screamed. Estelle was going to come to my aid, but Yuri stopped her.

"Oh? You seem to be handling it just fine to me." He continues to smirk that, RIDICULOUS, grin. Karol was still shaking from how exactly ferocious it really was. My heart pounded into my ears, blood turning cold.

"YURI, JUST HELP ME!" I screamed again, the Eggbear claws came to swing at me. I braced myself for a full blow to the face, but... "YURI!?" My eyes open to see him towering over me, blocking the monster attack.

"Looked----like----you could use some rescuing." He grinned through his teeth as he tried to hold back the attack. I quickly got back to my feet, with the help of Estelle. Karol was also in with his sword, swinging blindly towards the Eggbear. It snarled as Karol actually landed a blow.

"Naw...just needed ya to distract it." I replied as I came back with my own blow to its head. We definitely made it a lot madder since it started to charge at us. Repede came flying in out of nowhere; head butted the beast in the face, making it tumble backwards. Estelle used her magic to trip it over on its feet.

"NOW!?" She shouted as Yuri and I both slashed it in the head. It gave one more ferocious roared before dying.

"W-we did it." Karol was still a little shaky as he got a good look at the huge monster. He was big and furry, with claws and teeth enough to shred you to pieces. We all took a deep breath of relief, fighting an unexpected monster is exhausting. Yuri was the first to catch his breath.

"Well, captain, there's the claw." He pointed to his razor sharp hand. Karol's face went pale as he ran behind me.

"I-I think you should retrieve it...Just in case it decides to get back up again." I turned to give him an oblivious look. Yuri only replied in a sigh as he walked up and chopped off the Eggbear's claw. Estelle looked away quickly; she was looking a little green. Yuri sheathed his axe and threw the claws towards Karol, who quickly caught them.

"Alright, now all we need is the Luluria petals and we can make ourselves a Panacea." I put my weapons away as well as I looked back towards everyone else. "So, shall we head back to Halure?"

"Sure, that's fine with me." We all started to head back, but Karol was still staring at the Eggbear lying on the ground. I notice Yuri smirking awfully big. He walked up behind Karol and made a megaphone shape with his hands. "RAOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!?"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!?" Karol screamed as he threw the Eggbear claw in the air and crouched into a ball on the ground. Yuri started to laugh at him, which made me angry.

"Wow, captain, if I didn't know you were pretending I'd say you were pretty scared." He joked.

"A-a he-ah hah hah hah. O-of c-c-c-c-ourse!" Pour Karol he shaking like a leaf.

"YURI!" I yelled and he seemed to know exactly what I was going to do since he started to run away. "Get back here! I make sure you never scare any other little boy again." With my anger and adrenaline running I had the strength of three Rinossairus, enough for me to pick up a dead tree and throw it at him.

"Opps, I think you missed." He pointed towards the dead log as he played with me.

"I'm gonna kill you." I growled as I chased him through the woods.

"Ahh...and after I saved you...YURI, YURI HELP ME!" He cried in a girly voice in attempt to imitate me, failed. It just made me more embarrassed as I chased him.

"Man, are those two ever at each other neck?" Karol finally seemed to have calmed down and walked up next to Repede and Estelle, with the claw.

"Ahaha...Who knows, but it still very entertaining to watch." Estelle laugh as everyone headed back towards Halure.

*

**{Needing a Hero}**

"Argh, man...I totally embarrassed myself back their..." 'Mumbles' (Aero)

"Got something on your mind?" 'Smirk' (Yuri)

"Hmmmm..." 'Looks away' (Aero)

"Ah, come on, don't be like that" 'Laughs' "Are you still upset about me saving you?" (Yuri)

"You're lucky I don't strangle you...I don't like being showed up...that's all." 'Pouts' (Aero)

"Now, now, this isn't a competition. If you're ever in any danger I'll always come to your rescue." 'Winks at her and walks away' (Yuri)

"Hmph! What are you my knight in shining armour?" 'blush' (Aero)

*

Now that we have both the Nia fruit and the Eggbear claw we just need the Luluria petal...Where in the world are we gonna find tree petals around a dead tree? Maybe the mayor of Halure would know of something. When we arrived we visited his home.

"Hello?" An old man spoke as he wobbled his way out of his front door. "May I help you?"

"Yes, we were wondering if you had any Luluria petals. Surely someone of your age, who has lived here your entire life, would have some of the tree leftovers?" Estelle asked politely. The old man pondered for a moment.

"Hmmm...Yes, I do have a few more of the trees petals. Please come in while I go look for them." Everyone entered into the doorway and waited for the mayor to return. Moments later he came back with a small box with the petals inside. "Here you are the last of the Luluria petals."

"Wow, thanks mayor!" Karol sung as he reached out to grab it. "But...You didn't even ask us why we wanted it. Wouldn't be a little strange?"

"Ho ho hoooo, not at all. Something tells me you young'un are trying to save our tree." some of us seem to gasp. How did he guess that?

"Good guess old man, but who really told you that?" Yuri didn't seem to believe him.

"Ho ho hooo, you're a sharp one. The merchant at the shop told me. Now please use those wisely." He patted the top of his box. We all thanked him before we showed ourselves out the doorway.

"Now, we have every ingredient." I said with a bit of hope.

"Alright, let's make our way to the shop." Yuri stated as we all hurried over. After arriving the man in the shop told us a little about synthesizing items. We combined our three materials and voila, on Panacea Bottle ready to go. We thanked the merchant and we all walked up to the grand tree with anxiousness. As we reached the top the entire town seem to have gathered on this starry evening.

"Looks like we rounded ourselves a crowed?" I pointed as we circled the base of the tree.

"Here, Karol, am no good at this thing." Yuri handed him the bottle.

"What? You want me to do it?" Karol hesitated for a moment before taking hold of the bottle. He trembled his way over to the blood stained ground and poured the liquid over the area. Soon light was illuminating from the tree, everyone was in awed, even I was surprised. Karol's idea was working. But I guess I spoke to soon. The light suddenly dimmed and everyone looked down in shock.

"No...Please great tree..." The mayor seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"No, maybe the dosage was too small, or maybe this isn't the right way to do it." Karol was the one who looked like his whole just crumbled.

"Quick, we must make another Panacea Bottle." Estelle didn't want to give up. She was determined to save this tree.

"Oh, that won't be possible. As I said before those were the last of the Luluria petals." The mayor cringed.

"There has to be another way...there has to..." Estelle turned to the tree and started to pray. Suddenly light was pouring out of her. "Please, great tree..."

"Estelle...?" I was almost speechless. Her body was lit up and it seemed that her arte were listening to her heart.

"Bloom..." White light. White blinding light shot out from the tree. Karol fell to the ground in shock while the villager watched as their town bloom with greenery and floral beauty. As the flowers fell from the tree it lit up the sky. Never in my life have I witness something so supernatural. It made my heart race.

"Wow, I really do learn something every day." I crossed my arms and smirked. Yuri also seemed pleased with this evening. Everyone was cheering and thanking Estelle. She collapsed from exhaustion and was panting heavily.

"What did I just..." She was speechless as her own amazement.

"Estelle that was amazing. How did you do that?" Karol asked.

"Alright why don't we let her catch her breath? The lady is exhausted." I pulled Karol back a little to give Estelle some more room to breathe.

"Hah...that'll show Flynn." Yuri snickered. Repede seem to have come up beside Yuri and whined. He pointed out into the far crowd and we notice that the red eyes we saw at the capital had showed up. "We better stay low for a while. I don't wanna get the people in this town involved in so crazy attack." I couldn't agree more with him.

"Come on, Estelle why don't we rest up at the inn. Just enough to get your strength back up.

"Al..." She took a deep breath "Alright..." As we helped her to her feet we headed towards the local inn. For all I know I believe our next destination will be...entertaining.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, but I've finally finished this chp.! WOOT! XD I was caught up in my Hetalia fic and christmas and my exams, but soon i'll be done with exams and into the new semester so I should be slowing down and working on a lot more of my stories. I do believe I make this chp. and many others a little long so the next one is gonna be shorter. Also I have to ask...Do you think Aero should end up with Yuri or should I stick to my original pairing I had in mind? Just something I had to ask. Anyways, please R & R! Peace! (Also I'll be working on Air gear next so their my be another long wait for the next ToV chp.)**


	7. Aspio, The City of Scholars

Chapter 7: Aspio, The City of Scholars!

It didn't take Estelle long to recover from her fancy light show, not too long ago. She was up and ready to go in about an hour. It was still night time, which was good in our case. We didn't want much trouble with the Red Eye guys, or some unnecessary encounters with the knights. We geared ourselves up and headed towards the entrance of Halure.

"So, where to now?" I asked.

"My guess is what that old man told us back in the cellars. What was it called...Aspio?" Yuri pondered.

"Ok, but where do you suppose Aspio is?"

"I have no idea. Estelle? Karol? Any guesses?" He asked.

"I don't have the slightest idea..." Estelle seemed disappointed with herself, but it's not like we're depending on her every intake of knowledge of the area.

"All I heard is that it's in the area, but am not sure were." Well their goes are last hope. Yuri seemed to have spotted the Mayor walking out of his house. Why is he up at such a late hour, I don't know, but maybe he can help us.

"Hey, old man, you know anything about a city name Aspio?" Yuri walked over to the elder and was immediately scold for his rudeness.

"YURI! That's no way to ask for help." Estelle scolded him, which made me giggle on the inside. He frowned and went back to paying attention to the Mayor.

"Hoo...Aspio? You mean the City of Shades?" He eyed us, even though his eyes were closed.

"The City of Shades? I thought it was the City of Scholars?" At least am pretty sure it was.

"Hoo, yes...you are right, but people these days call it the City of Shades, since it's located inside the mountain in the east."

"Located in the east, huh? Thanks old man." Yuri thanked, but Estelle continued to puff in unbelievable-ness of Yuri continuous action of rudeness. We waved good-bye and we all hung out at the bottom of Halure.

"Excuse me for sounding selfish, but am glad we'll be continuing our journey together." Estelle spoke as she stepped forward. "I haven't felt this much freedom in a long time."

"Hah hah..." Yuri laughed in approval.

"It wouldn't be a journey without you, Estelle." And that was the truth. Estelle is a friend and I'd love nothing more than to journey on with my friends. She turned pink at my complement, which could be seen in the dark.

"So, Captain, what about you?" Yuri turned his attention to Karol.

"I want to go to the port city, and cross over to Tolbyccia from there." Karol explained.

"Well I guess this is good-bye then."

"Huh!" He looked surprised.

"It's been fun, Karol."

"Please take care of yourself." Estelle bowed.

"I'll miss you, so much, Karol!" I whined. Come on, we were about to lose the cutest addition to the group, am allowed to show a little bit of sadness. Yuri seemed to sigh at my ridiculous behaviour. Karol started to worry.

"On second thought, maybe I'll stick with you guys, for a while." He spitted out.

"Why?" For a moment I thought I hear Yuri laugh when he answered back?

"Because you guys would be nothing without me around. What happens if you get lost? Or are over powered by monsters?" He brilliantly came up with.

"Well you have surprisingly come in handy, Captain."

"Alright then let's keep journeying together. All of us." I jumped for joy.

"Good, shall we head east, then?" Estelle reminded us.

"Arf!" Repede seem to agree.

"Good! Let's leave before the goon squad show up." I couldn't have put it better myself.

**{So...Who is Flynn?}**

"Hey, so just who is this Flynn guy, anyways? Where you and him seeing each other, Estelle?" (Karol)

"What do you mean? Seeing each other? Flynn is Yuri's friend." (Estelle)

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." (Yuri)

"Two friends going after the same girl? You got a little wild side, don't you, Estelle?" (Karol)

"What do you mean, w-wild side?" 'confuse' (Estelle)

"Naw, it's alright. You can keep your secrets." (Karol)

"He's so got the wrong idea..." (Both Yuri and Aero)

It took us the entire night before we finally got to Aspio, and the Mayor was right...It should be called the City of Shades. It was completely enclosed inside a cave. I hope caveman don't live in here...

"So this is Aspio?" Estelle looked up towards the giant blastia that was hovering above the giant dome at the end of the cave.

"It's so gloomy and damp here...And it's giving me the chills, too." Karol shivered.

"It's because the city in a cavern." I told him.

I wonder if the lacks of sun drives people to do shady things...Like steal blastia cores." Yuri also looked around the dark city. We continued in until we were stopped by some guards.

"Passports, please." He halted.

"Passport?" Estelle was confused.

"Nobody get by without a passport. This is a military procedure." The other guard spoke with a creepy voice.

"You wouldn't happen to have one on you, would ya?" I asked looking at Yuri. He gave me his usual I-don't-have-nothing pose.

"Does it look like I go country boarding?" You coulda fool me. Yuri decided to step up. "An associate or ours is inside. Could you please let us through?"

"If you filled out the official visitation paperwork, then you ought to have gotten your passport from this 'associate' of yours?" The creepy guy was starting to sound like a snake. Yuri was starting to get irritated.

"If you won't let us in, perhaps you could call him to the gate for us?"

"What's your associate's name?"

"Mordio!" Suddenly the guard froze up.

"M-MORDIO!" They looked at each other as they squeaked. "W-we can't help you. You'll need to mail in a request and have a passport officially issued to you." They stiffen.

"Damn, don't budge an inch, do ya?" The snaky guard seem to turn and glare at me. _"Geez, what's got his panties in a bunch...?"_

"Excuse me, but did a knight name Flynn pass by here?" Estelle regained their attention.

"All information about the establishment is classified. We cannot share even small details with outsiders." The guard to the left answered.

"So you can't even tell me why Flynn was here?"

"No, of course not."

"...So what you're saying...is that Flynn really did come!" Ohhh...Estelle getting smart with them, Atta girl.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about? A knight name Flynn. N-never hear of him?" The guard was obvious, only made it worst when he looked away.

"_Come on Estelle there's no arguing with them. Will just have to find another way in_..." I whispered to her. She seemed to give in and we all walked over to an open area.

"Now, what do we do?" Estelle puffed her cheeks in frustration.

"We look for another way inside."

"But...how?"

"Well...we could always climb over the walls?" Yuri looked up towards the mountain of rocks covering us.

"But that's breaking an entry." She slammed her foot down on that idea, refusing to go through with it.

"We still need to find a way inside either way. I need to give this Mordio a piece of my mind."

"And I'd like to talk to Flynn."

"Why don't we look around? Maybe will find another way in." Karol suggested as he walked past us. I followed behind him, while Yuri and Estelle continue to argue over pointless things. Karol got my attention by tugging my sleeve, looking over he was pointing to a door. "Should we tell them?"

"Naw! Let them have their debate." I wasn't gonna waist my time telling them we found a way in when I KNOW Estelle gonna complain about not breaking in and Yuri, who I KNOW will make an attempt to joke at me. I walked up and jiggled the knob. "Locked." This doesn't surprise me. My hands dug into my pocket and pulled out a couple of thin needles. With my awesome skills at pick locking I eventually opened the door. "Ta da!" Karol laughed and right on queue the others joined us. I quickly snuck the needles back into my pocket. "Hey, found a way in." I pointed.

"Yeah...uh huh..." Yuri not believing me in the slight's.

"Oh? And how did you manage that?" Estelle also didn't seem to believe me.

"Knocked, and some scholar opened up. Very cute looking, too!" Lie.

"And were does it lead us too?" I took a quick glance over my shoulder.

"The library..." Convincing...?

"Well...As long as we're not breaking in, uninvited, I guess we can take this opportunity to enter." Yes! She bought it, course Yuri was my other problem. And Karol tried so hard not to laugh out loud.

"Halt!" Shit were we spotted? I had my hand ready at my daggers and I swung myself around, only to find myself staring at a strange man dress in a chef outfit?

"W-who are you?" Everyone was a little be wiled.

"Ke ke ke...I notice that you lot were walking by and I-" He hesitated, but soon lifted his head up and threw his glasses aside. He was...kinda cute. He had blue hair and bright brown eyes. "-Wanted to introduce myself. BEHOLD!" He swinged out a giant frying pan from his backside. "I AM THE INFAMOUS WONDER CHEF! I have traveled far and wide in search of the best recipes and disciples, to continue on in my journey, for I hope they will become as great as I, in the world of cuisine. You must be on a journey, and for that you'll need time to feed yourselves. Here-" He passed us a sheet of paper with the Salisbury Steak recipe on it. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...I'll give you this to practice. For the love of food. Bon appétit." And he vanished.

"That was..." I was so weirded out I couldn't finish my sentence.

"Creepy..." Thank you, Karol. Well...better not waste it. I shoved the recipe into my pocket and we made our way inside. When we entered we notice there were a bunch of people dressed up in robes.

"Yikes...Look at all the Mordio's..." Yuri didn't seem to like the idea. "This is going to be a pain to find out which one stole the aqua blastia." He scratched his head in annoyance.

"Ahem...Excuse me?" Estelle went up and tapped a man on his shoulder. He jumped and turned around.

"Y-yeah? What do you want?" He asked, but anyone could tell he was shaking. Don't people get out much here?

"You wouldn't have heard of a knight name, Flynn Scifo pass through here?" She asked kindly.

"Hmmm...Flynn? Yeah, I heard he was around." The man pushed up his glasses to his face.

"Could you tell me where his is, please?"

"Like I said, he WAS here. He's probably gone by now." Estelle seemed to have slumped down into a sigh of disappointment.

"Oh, alright! Sorry for wasting your time." She bowed in apology.

"_Hmph...Time indeed..."_ He whispered as he started to walk away. Ok, he did not just blow off Estelle. This angered my dearly and I tried to walked up to him, but Yuri got to him first. He yelped in surprised. "W-what now?"

"I've got another question for ya. Do you know anybody by the name of Mordio." The man face suddenly lost it color and he started to tremble.

"M-Mordio! W-who in their right mind would want to associate themselves with that crazy freak?" Crazy freak? Just who was this Mordio and how come I'm just learning about him...?

"Listen we have a bone to pick with that mage, so unless you tell us where he is or..." He's expression darkens. "You and I will have a nice chat." Chills ran up and down his spine, showing goose bumps. It also made me excited for some reason. Watching Yuri acting all taught always makes me feel funny, a surge of adrenaline rushing through my blood.

"Shouldn't we..." Estelle wanted to step in.

"Just leave him..." I pulled my hand out, stopping her from interfering.

"A-Alright, alright, j-just don't hurt me. Mordio leaves in a small shack in the far right of town, down by the blastia sphere, which supports our town." He trembled, trying to free himself from his grip. He eventually let him go. He dropped to the ground in a 'thump'. Yuri bent down to pick up his book and returned it to him.

"Here and thank you for your help." He smiled. He looked at me like I was some puzzle. To be scary at one moment and then nice at another. He quickly grabbed his book and scurried off.

"Are you sure about this...?" Karol came up to me. "I mean the way everyone reacts when we mention Mordio. It's like he's some sort of plague or something?"

"I agree with, Karol." Estelle answer.

"Well we won't know for sure till we meet him. Come on, it'll be alright you got Aero, Repede and myself. What could possibly go wrong?" Yuri was definitely worried himself, but he hid it behind his ego. We made our way up the large library to the center of town.

**{An Ex-Knight} **

"You know, Yuri...Your attitude, your behaviour, they don't seem very...knightly." (Karol)

"Where'd that come from?" (Yuri)

"He means, we're entering the city through the back entrance, like thieves..." 'Smiles' (Aero)

"This coming from the girl who picked the lock..." (Yuri)

"Wait a minute...you told me they let you in? Hah? You've turned me into a thief!" 'Worries' (Estelle)

"We haven't stolen anything!" (Yuri)

"Sheesh, Thanks a lot Yuri." 'Glares' (Aero)

"Anytime." 'Smiles' (Yuri)

Aspio was a decent size town. Their library had loads of books packed with ancient knowledge, spells, recipes, maps, blastia and a bunch of other necessary information. They had a central square, quite small, but hey they had one. Up to the highest point in town was a giant, cathedral like, laboratory. Many mages were coming in and out of it. And down in the back of town was this small little two floored house and that's where we'd find our Mordio.

"**KEEP OUT, SERIOUSLY...MORDIO**" Looks like no one wants us here." Estelle read out the sign on the front door.

"Looks like this is the place." Without waiting Yuri walked up and jiggled the door knob before knocking.

"Don't people usually knock first...?" And I thought I was bad.

"Looks like no one's home. What should we do?" Karol asked.

"No point in worrying when we're rushing in to a den of thieves." Yuri step back.

"Don't let their title foul ya. Thieves are very smart. How do you think we always get away with the lout?" If I do say so myself.

"If they're a lot like you then I can handle them." Yuri chuckled.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I clenched my fist.

"NO! I do not wish for us to commit anymore crimes." Estelle demanded.

"Looks like it's my turn." I was very tempted to punch Yuri, but now was not the time.

"What do you mean YOUR TURN?" I ignored her and carried on. Pulling the needles out from before, I started picking the lock.

"We shouldn't do that either." Estelle was trying her best to stop me, but her words weren't working.

'Click'

"There...nothing to it." I proudly announced as I tidied my hands, and put away my tools. Yuri walked right in, along with Karol and Repede. "HEY! Don't ignore me! Wait for me!"

"Ahhh...they're not listening...are they." Estelle gave in and joined us inside. Inside the small shack there were mountain of books and equipment scattered everywhere. And the air was very dusty.

"Argh...Who could live in a place like this?" Karol complained as he plunged his nose in disgust.

"You can pretty much leave anywhere were you can sleep and eat." Yuri made himself at home. I did the same.

"Hey, you two aren't you forgetting something?" Estelle was giving us her 'Tone'.

"Oh...Hello, we're coming in." Yuri shouted.

"And the door...?"

"And, Aero, here picked locked your door. 'Smack' Oww...what?" He says oww, but that smile on his face tells me otherwise.

"Watch what you say, buddy." I warned, a quiet growl in my voice.

"Honestly, you two...Hello is anyone home?"

"It's good that no one's here, gives us a better chance to look around." Yuri nodded in agreement and we started to look around. Estelle continued to sigh.

**{Lots of Books}**

"There sure are a lot of books." (Karol)

"I'm not too crazy about books. I'm gonna have a hard time sleep here." (Yuri)

"Yeah, you seem like you're too jittery to sit still and look at something for too long." (Karol)

"You're one to talk." (Yuri)

"Hey, what happen to Estelle?" (Karol)

"She's been over there reading books ever since we got here." (Yuri)

"Hmmm..." (Estelle)

"Estelle! Time to get going!" (Karol)

"Hmmm..." (Estelle)

"Once she starts reading you can pull her away." (Yuri)

"Hey, Aero, do something about-Es-telle...Huh? (Karol)

"Hmmm..." (Aero)

"Not you, too. I didn't think she was the reading type." (Karol)

"Not really. I'll catch her once in a while reading instead of stealing, cheating, lying and escaping." (Yuri)

"Hmmm..." (Aero)

"She's not even listening." (yuri)

"Woah! She's really into it, she didn't even hit you." (Karol)

"Man...There are a lot of books here on blastia." I sighed. I couldn't find anything that looked like the aqua blastia. As I searched on rustling was heard in the pile of books behind me. Soon a person popped out of them.

"Gyaaaaah! Wh-wh-what is that!" Karol jumped and fell start to the floor. Moment later he was back on his feet and running behind Yuri and I.

"...Shut up..." The mage horsed as he turned around. He was pissed and turned straight at Karol. He was about to cast a spell. Yuri and I both booked it out of the way, but Karol...

"HUH? Hey, hold on!"

"Thieves..." He chanted.

"No! What're you...Wait!"

"...Be gone?" He shouted and shot fireballs straight at Karol.

"Heeelp!"

**Mahahahah! I finished another chapter! Yeah me! I was just really pumped to right this chapter...so I did! ^-^ I hope you like it! Please R&R! Peace!**


	8. Rita Mordio and the Shaikos Ruins!

Chapter 8: Rita Mordio and the Shaikos Ruins!

"KAROL!" Everyone shouted.

"Hack, cough…' Why me…?" Pour Karol coughed as he was hit with the fireball.

"A g-girl…?" Estelle was surprised, or should I say everyone was. Without a second though I jumped behind her and locked her in my grip, my dagger edging her throat.

"I'd be careful what I do next if I were you…" My voice as icy as ever, no one hurts my Karol…I-I mean ours. Yuri walked over to help Karol to his feet. He was a little wobbly and singed, but fine.

"Why does this always happen to me?" He whined. Yuri wasted no time in questioning the girl.

"If you could pull tricks like that, why'd you bother skipping town back in Zaphias?"

"Huh?" She struggled a little under my grip to move her face toward Yuri. "Skipping town? Why would I need to skip town?"

"For stealing a blastia core from the lower quarter in the capital. What else?"

"What? You're calling me a thief. Have you ever heard of 'common sense'?"

"Sure." Yuri crossed his hands.

"So you break into a home. Call the owner a thief, and wave a sword in their face. What the hell kind of sense is that?" Repede seemed to have gotten annoyed by the situation and moved up next to Yuri, sitting down next to him. The girl seemed to be eying him, knowing exactly what he was intending on doing. "Hey, dog…You stay back, you…you dog!" She started to lash out at him by kicking her legs in a 'shoo-boy' manner. Of course, she couldn't do much under her circumstances. She started to growl, which made me think she, herself, was more dog then human, and turned a dirty look towards Karol, who jumped from fear. I held her down tighter. "And you! Kid! Give him back!" She snapped.

"W-what do you mean?" Karol was confused and scared.

"The blastia. The blastia! Give him back to me!" She started to thrash around again, probably more on the fact that she just wanted her blastia back and less of the fact of escaping. Estelle suddenly came into view and bowed her head in respect. "W-what's with you?" The girl seemed surprised. Estelle gave me a look that said to let her go. I nodded and released her. She didn't seem fazed or scared of the situation at all. In fact I think she was more interested in why people are here in the first place.

"My name is Estellise. We're terribly sorry for barging in on you like this!...Karol, Yuri, Aero, you too." She turned to look at all of us.

"S-sorry." Karol whimpered in forgiveness. Both Yuri and I didn't see any reason in forgiving someone who stole from us in the first place, which in turn made Estelle grimace at the both of our rudeness.

"So…? What do you want?" The girl asked in a 'fine-I'll-hear-you-out' kind of voice.

"Well, you see…Yuri and Aero have followed a blastia thief here all the way from the imperial capital…" Estelle started to explain.

"And?"

"And that blastia thief…" Yuri suddenly took charge of the conversation.

"Wore a cape!" He pointed at her. "Was short! And their name was Mordio! So…"

"Hmmm…." The girl was impressed. "Well Mordio is certainly my name. Rita Mordio to be exact.

"And the height matches up, too." Karol said. Rita shot him another dirty look. "Gah!"

"What do you have to say for yourself?" I came walking up behind her.

"I told you. I have no idea what you're…" She paused for a moment. "Oh…_I haven't thought of that…?" _She whispered. "Follow me." And started to walk away.

"What? Maybe you didn't hear me. We're not finished here…" Yuri reached out and caught her shoulder.

"Just follow me, would you? There's some talk about some thieves in the Shaikos Ruins."

"Thieves?" Yuri dropped his hand. "Are you sure about that?" His face did a 'I-have-an-idea-who', while facing in my direction.

"Whoa! You don't seriously think I stole something, do you? I've been with you this whole time." I waved my hand in a defensive manner.

"I don't know…You couldn't sneak out in the middle of the night, without us knowing." He eyed me suspiciously, pissing me off.

"Honestly, Yuri, think for a moment. What business do I have down in some old dark, dusty ruin?" My hands hung on my hips.

"Hmmm…let me think, treasure?"

"Sure, treasure good once in a while, but I haven't been in the Shaikos Ruins…EVER! And that's the truth." I pointed out.

"Uh huh…that still doesn't stop you from stealing a twenty from my wallet this morning." …Shit? He found out. Quick! Think of a distraction.

"HEY! How bout we check out those Shaikos Ruins. Maybe will even find the real blastia thief…Heh heh…" Smooth!

"Hey! Don't try to change the subject?" Pretend like you don't even see him, even though I can totally see his pissed off sign.

"W-where did you hear this from anyways?"

"Stop-Ig-no-ring-me!" He's pissed…perfect.

"It came from an Imperial Knight who asked me for help. It should be trustworthy." Rita started to walk out into the back of her house, changing out of her robe, and slipping on a pair of goggles. Estelle seemed to pull me over.

"Do you think that Knight might have been Flynn?"

"Who cares about him….But ya, I betcha it was, looks like she shot him down." I couldn't stop myself from smiling wickedly at Flynn failure of obtaining a mage. Rita finally joined us out of her dress room.

"Finish chatting? Let's go."

"Don't even think about running away." Yuri made sure to point that out.

"You don't have to come. If you want I can just call the guards."

"Why don't we go along? It sounds like we might even find Flynn there." Estelle suggested.

"It's up to you: Go to jail, make a run for it, or follow me. Pick one."

"Ok, ok, we'll go with you…" I could tell we didn't really have a choice.

"The Shaikos Ruin are even further to the east. Once you leave the city." And with that we started heading out.

**{Rita}**

"Rita's a little scary, huh?" (Karol)

"Really?" (Estelle)

"She's about what I expect. Seem like she in a crappy mood, too." (Yuri)

"That's because you broke into her house, Yuri!" (Estelle)

"Hey, don't blame me, blame Aero. And besides, I don't exactly feel like being on my best behaviour when I'm dealing with a core thief." (Yuri)

"What will you do if you're wrong about her?" (Karol)

"If I'm wrong, I'll apologize." (Yuri)

"You better remember that when the time comes." 'Comes out of nowhere' (Rita)

"Oh, were you listening?" (Karol)

"I just happen to overhear. So you think am scary, do you?" 'Walks away' (Rita)

"Watch it, Karol. She definitely the kind to hold a grudge." 'Also comes out of nowhere' (Aero)

"H-hey! D-don't scare me like that!" (Karol)

"Oh, I almost forgot something…" Rita stated as we barely set foot out of her house only to be pushed back in. "Wait, here." She told us as she climb upstairs. After about five minutes went by Yuri was starting to lose his patience.

"What's she doing up there? What if she escaped? Am gonna go check on her." He started to climb up.

"Wait, Yuri, no. She told us to stay put." Estelle grabbed his sleeve.

"Oh, yeah? And what if she got away? That would only make her look more suspicious." He had a point and Estelle seem to agree.

"Alright, but we'll all go up together." We took our time getting up only to find NO Rita and a LOT more books, and even a bed. "She doesn't appear to be around?"

"I knew it. She ran away." Yuri was ticked off. "And to think I believed her. Well this gives us a good chance to actually look around up here, Karol, go search by the black board. Estelle, check the pile of books on the floor over there. And, Aero, can you check that hammock area up there." He pointed to the ceiling were a white sheet hung. "There seems to be some shelving up there. I'll check around the bed." Again we all check the area and still found nothing that looked like a blastia core.

"Nothing…" I sighed. I notice that Yuri was starting to look through some drawers near Rita bed and as soon as he was about to open one, Rita came flying out of nowhere.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU DOING?" She shouted so hard her face turned red.

"I thought you ran away so I took the opportunity to look for clues. Is that a problem?"

"Yeah, it's a problem. I told you all to wait for me by the front door. And what do I find when I come back…? NOTHING! Then I find you sneaking around my drawers. You have no right to do that buster." She pointed furiously at Yuri.

"What…? You got something to hide?" His finger snaked its way around the handle of her drawer, as Yuri's face turn teasingly suspicious. Rita face seems to have turned to a pinkish color as he did so. So, she was hiding something from us? I jumped down to join them, along with Estelle and Karol. Repede was downstairs since he can't climb ladders.

"T-that's no of your business. Stay away from my stuff." She told him firmly, face still pink.

"It seems you do have something to hide…You haven't been lying to us, have you?" Again his fingers teased the knob on her drawer and I could hear her take a huge gulp.

"Now, hold on…" Estelle stepped up. "If anyone is gonna investigate a girls drawer it gonna be me and Aero. After all we do have the right to be suspicious of you, but not the right to allow a man to go through a girl's personal belongings." Yuri pondered a minute before stepping aside. Estelle and I nodded and huddled around her beside drawer. Both Yuri and Karol couldn't see over our shoulders.

"No, wait, STOP!" But it was too late.

"…." We were speechless. We decided to close the drawer.

"Grrr…I told you not to look." Rita was brighter then the red on her clothes. I don't blame her for being. "S-see I was hiding any aqua blastia from you. S-so…P-promise to keep it a secret from everyone, ok." She looked down in shame.

"Sure, ok." I won't say anything. Hey, a girl gotta do what a girl gotta do.

"R-really?" Her speech was a little shaky.

"Yes." Estelle smiled.

"T-thanks. Anyways, let's head for the ruins." And Rita didn't think twice about staying around for much longer.

"What was in the drawer anyways?" Both Yuri and Karol were curious.

"So, boys, but my lips are sealed." Estelle agreed with me by nodding in return and we made our way out

"?"

**{Gimmy never gets}**

"Hey, Aero, about that twenty…" (Yuri)

"W-what twenty?" 'Pretend like I don't know what he's talking about' (Aero)

"Y'know, the twenty you stole from me last night, while I was sleep…" (Yuri)

"Ohhhhh…That twenty…I spent it already!" (Aero)

"Oh really?" (Yuri)

"Yep!" (Aero)

"And how do you plan on paying me back?" (Yuri)

"Oh, that's an easy one…I don't." (Aero)

"Really?" (Yuri)

"Ya see, I don't think you understand. Once thieves have stolen something from somebody they don't pay them back. So your outta luck. Later…" 'Tries to walk away but ends up being caught' (Aero)

"No…I don't think you understand. If you don't pay me back, I have other methods of getting people to pay up." 'Binds both of her hands in one, while using the other to cup her chin' (Yuri)

"H-huh?" 'Gulps' (Aero)

"Hey, you two I was just wondering if you found a-Whoa? Didn't mean to disturb you…I'll ask again later…" (Rita)

"NO! RITA WAIT! IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! Estelle? Estelle! Please….help me?" (Aero)

"Sorry, Aero, but I believe you need as much punishment as the next thief." (Estelle)

"K-karol?" (Aero)

"S-sorry…" (Karol)

"R-repede?" (Aero)

"Whines…." (Repede)

"NOOOOOOOOO!" (Aero)

When we left Aspio I almost forgot how great the sun felt on my skin. Aspio is a pretty interesting place, but way to dark and damp for my liking. I could never live in a place like that, no matter how shady it is. I prefer a crowded area with lots of people and open sun light…I also enjoy leaving over sea.

**{Dog Language}**

"Repede's getting really good at handling items, don't you think?" (Estelle)

"Yeah, but I don't wanna eat any gels that have been in a dog's mouth!" (Rita)

"Woof!" (Repede)

"He said, 'Come on, don't be like that. If things get bad, take it!'" (Yuri)

"That's one big mouth he's-Wait a minute….Did he really say that? All I heard him do was bark." (Rita)

"Stick around long enough and you'll start to understand him. Right, Repede?" (Yuri)

"WOOF!" (Repede)

"….." 'Blush' (Rita)

"You look a little jealous, Rita." (Estelle)

"N-no way!" (Rita)

It took us some time but we finally made it to the Shaikos Ruins. It was a pretty crumbled up place, broken pillars and buildings. To put it simply…it's pretty messy.

"These are the Shaikos Ruins." Rita stated as we walked around the area.

"It doesn't look like any Imperial Knights are around." Estelle said, almost knowing there wasn't gonna be anyone here. Repede walk up in front of us and started sniffing the ground. He swished his tail down on the dirt and foot prints appeared.

"Look? These are still fresh…And there are a lot of them." Karol almost sounded worried.

"Which means it's either the Knights, the thieves, or both." Yuri came up to pat Repede on the head for his amazing discovery.

"Some of these footprints might be Flynn's?" Estelle cheerfully suggested.

"Could be."

"Hey, over here. Hurry up." Rita waved her hands towards the back of a pile of buildings.

"Oh, I see. So, first you get us alone in the dark, and then you zap us, huh?" Yuri teased.

"…..Hmmm, 'ZAP' I like the way that sound." She sounded like she enjoyed the idea?

"H-hey, what's that supposes to mean? Why are you smiling like that?" Karol should be worried.

"Let's try to get along now, ok?" Estelle was the one to bring the discussion to an end. We walked around the ruins some more and find a couple of chest. Not much in them but some money, gels and a couple of armour. The sun had reach noon by this time and I was starting to get bored.

"Hey, Rita…What exactly are we looking for?" I asked as I laid my back up against a giant statue, which was surprisingly still in one piece for a place that's all broken up.

"Knowledge. Clues. Information….or at least that's what I would be looking for." She didn't even have the time to look me in the eye when she spoke she was to occupied with the statue.

"And bringing us here is worth our time because…?" Yuri was also starting to loss his patience.

"Because….Am pretty sure you'll find your answers here. I brought you along because of two reasons." She checked the back of the statue next. "One, because I needed your help in find the entrance to this place. Two, I wanted to clear my name, and bringing you all here seem like the best choice at the time." She scratched the back of her head while pondering.

"Clear your name, huh?" Yuri almost sounded convinced for some reason. Karol walked up next to Rita, wondering what she was looking at.

"Hey…There are scratches on the ground. Like something very heavy was moved." He kneeled down to get a better look.

"I heard whispers in Aspio that a couple of mages found the entrance to this place." She came back into view. "And I think you're laying on it." She pointed towards me and the statue, though it was pretty suspicious for a perfectly un-scratched sculpture to be still standing. Karol also came back from behind and started to push the statue next to me.

"Arg….'Huff'…'Huff'…It's no use." Karol puffed. I turned around to give him a hand.

"You just gotta put a little elbow grease into it." He nodded at me and we both started to push. The statue was cold on my hands and VERY heavy. Both Karol and I were only able to move it a couple of inches, which pissed me off. I could hear Yuri chuckled behind me and suddenly his body was over mine.

"Need a hand?" He asked teasingly.

"Grrr…." I didn't have the strength to yell back at the moment so I just nodded. He placed his hand above mine. Compared to the cold stone, his hand was warm. It made me shiver, but the results where good. The statue moved with ease and…Karol fell down the stairs. I would've gone with him if it wasn't for the fact that Yuri caught me before I fell. "KAROL…YOU ALRIGHT!" I shouted.

"Y-yeah…" He responded faintly.

"Great! We wound the entrance." And Rita left, walking down to where Karol fell.

"Hold on, Captain. We're coming." And we all followed. (BTW only Yuri calls Karol Captain)

"O-ok…."

"This is my first time being inside ruins." Estelle was all excited, she ran down the steps.

"Before down here, it's slippery." Rita called out to Estelle and shook her head. "Arg…she gonna be a handful." Then Yuri seemed to catch her attention. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking…You're actually a nice person."

"Arg…I knew it would be a pain to bring you along." Rita sighed. "I should have just come by myself."

"Do you always research ruins, Rita?" Estelle asked.

"Yeah!"

"Aren't you afraid you'll get hurt by monsters of traps?"

"There are always risks if you're actually trying to do something." She turned to answer Estelle. "If someone gets hurt it's an acceptable loss."

"Even if you're the one who gets hurt?"

"Yeah!"

"Don't you ever worry or hesitate?" Rita started to walk off again, and Estelle followed close behind.

"Worrying about getting what you want without getting hurt. You've lived a pretty easy life." Rita was starting to get annoyed by all the questions.

"_An easy life….."_ Estelle suddenly had a sad expression on her face, which made Rita feel guilty.

"Blastia will never betray me. So they're easy to deal with." She tried to calm her down.

"Rita, you're so amazing! You just come right out and say what you have to say." I could tell Estelle appreciated Rita's comfort and smiled at her.

"She knows exactly what's important to her." Yuri and the rest of us joined the two.

"I wish I knew what was important to me…?"

"Just travel around for a while, you'll figure it out." I came up and patted her on the shoulders, she relaxed a little.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I know so. It was the same for me. I used to travel to get my head on straight." I smiled.

"Really? Am pretty sure you loss it back on your travel…'Smack'…Oww." Knew that was coming.

**{Searching the Ruins}**

"These ruins feel really different once you're inside of them." (Estelle)

"Yeah, it's weird. And there's all this stuff I've never seen before…" (Karol)

"What, is this your first time too, Karol?" (Aero)

"Well, yeah, my specialty's is monster hunting. Hey, what do you think this is?" (Karol)

"You really shouldn't be fooling around over there. This place is loaded with traps." (Rita)

"Did anyone else just hear a click?" (Estelle)

"Karol! Watch out!" (Yuri)

"Waaaaaaah!" (Karol)

"Sorry! I thought you were about to get killed. I overdid it." (Yuri)

"Overdid it! You purposely pushed him out of the way. How would you like it if I ACCIDENTLY pushed you down a pitfall! Hmmm!" 'Approaches Yuri, but he runs smiling' (Aero)

"I think I would've been better off getting caught in the trap…" (Karol)

**YEAH! Got another Chapter done! XP Actually I've been writing a lot of ToV lately? Probably because the Vesperia movie inspired me to write another chapter! XP Which was AMAZING, BTW! XD Anyways I hope you like it! Please R&R! Peace! **


	9. Shaikos Ruins! Part 2

**Holy Crap! Has it ever been a long time since I updated anything? Yeah, it's actually has. I will never give up on a story, it really all depend on the mood i'm in and what i'm fangirling over. Anyways was in a Tales mood so I decided to write up the next part to this story. Hope you enjoy it.**

Chapter 9: The Shaikos Ruins!? (Part 2)

The ruins were just as I imagined, damp and humid. Great condition for my hair…NOT! But it wasn't too hard to find our way around. Many of the paths were block with cave-ins and fallen stone so it was just a straight path right through to the other side. Rita eventually came to a stop and kneeled down next to what I thought was a pile of rubble.

"Looks like this little one is no good…" Said Rita as she dusts away the crumbles of stones.

"Wow, so this is what a blastia looks like before their excavated." Karol beamed.

"I wonder why ancient people buried blastia in ruins like this in the first place?" Wondered Estelle.

"I wish I could tell you. That's something else being researched." Rita stood up and turned towards her.

"With the blastia here, I don't suppose there are any aqua blastia lying around too…?" Asked Yuri.

"None of them have cores in them…" I stated the obvious.

"Really? Then they don't work, do they?" Karol looked over towards me, but it was Rita that answered back.

"Blastia aren't excavated with the core and the bodies together." She answered.

"Cores produce magic through formula." Quoted Estelle. "Bodies control that magic. The two combine are referred to as blastia. Each blastia possesses different attributes, and is marked by a crest that indicates those attributes. With current technology, blastia bodies can be manufactured, but the production of blastia cores is impossible." She finished.

"So basically, cores are very valuable, since they have to be excavated, it's only natural that thieve would want to steal them." Said Yuri as he flickered a gaze towards me as he said it, which pissed me off, but he kept it firmly on Rita.

"That's not quite true. It seems Estelle's information is a little outdated." Corrected Rita as she got our attention again.

"What's outdated about it?" Asked Karol.

"There's some degradation of quality, but there's been some success in the synthesis of simple blastia cores."

"Really!?" Estelle seemed quite surprise, but I'd have to believe that she was probably reading some really old books.

"That's why I wouldn't do anything stupid like go stealing people's cores! If I had time to waste doing things like that, I'd rather be spending it researching better ways to completely restore incomplete or degraded cores. That's what being a mage is all about!" She made her point but Yuri wasn't buying it.

"A noble creed. But that doesn't clear your name."

"…Yes, talk is cheap, I suppose." It seems Rita didn't know she was being so heavily accused for something she believes she didn't do. Estelle could feel the tension between the two as much as I could and decided to step in.

"P-perhaps there is still some blastia left to be used." She said.

"Your right, let's keep searching." And Rita lead the way again. It didn't take us long to find a blastia. Which was still in pretty good shape considering it's in a rundown place like this.

"This one's still got a core in it." Karol seemed ecstatic as he run up to the monument that held the blastia.

"Here try shooting it at the core." Rita walked over and handed Yuri a ring.

"Ohhhh…a gift Rita? You're too kind, but I would at least expect dinner first." Yuri teased.

"W-what? N-no that's not the point here, this ring has a small blastia inside it that shoots out aer. With this you can activate other blastia's." I could tell Rita was embarrassed by how pink she turned. I don't blame her, I know how she feels.

"Glyph crystallization of a formula allows the blastia to emit aer as needed." There goes Estelle again with her insider encyclopaedia.

"How did you know that?" Wondered Rita.

"In the castle I read that the ring acts like some kind of key for ancient ruins."

"Castle?"

"So all I do is point?" Asked Yuri. He seemed to be a little impatient.

"It's called the Sorcerer's Ring. Just point it at the core of that blastia." Rita pointed towards the monument. "Face your target. And shoot. There's a limit to its range, though. Go on. Try it." Yuri faced forward towards the blastia and aimed the ring. Soon a small matter of aer shot out and lit up the blastia. "…That's all it takes."

"That's a strihm crest. It's a mark that indicates movement." Said Estelle.

"Woah, your just full of knowledge aren't ya?" I have to say I was impressed. And I thought I knew everything. Estelle looked over her shoulder and blushed. I guess she wasn't used on being complimented on this sort of stuff. Somewhere in the distance, stone could be heard moving about. I guess that was the movement that Estelle was talking about. But the question is what moved?

"Hey, wh-what's that…?" I turned to see what Karol was pointing at. From what I could tell it was a stone golem.

"It's a Sentinel. My guess is when Yuri activated the blastia he woke up in order to keep unwanted guest out." I said.

"Ok then, keep your eyes open and let's keep moving." Said Yuri as he decided to take the lead this time. I followed next to him in order to keep everyone safe as well. If the Sentinel was going to attack it will hit us first. Rita came walking up behind us.

"Are you sure you can just trust me like that? What if I was just luring you deeper into the ruins so I could just 'ZAP' you?" There was a teasing quality to here question, but she still held herself firm.

"I'm starting to think I should try my luck with the golem." Yuri waved his hand in the air in order to signify he was listening. Then he stopped. Looking down at the Sorcerers Ring he decided he should return it. He didn't wanna be the next in the group to be labelled a thief; there was already someone for that. "Here!" He handed it back to Rita.

"No, you keep it!" She said as she crossed her arms.

"Isn't this thing important or something?"

"We'll need to use it a few more times."

"Ok." He raised his shoulders in a 'whatever' manner. "Aero, here!" He tossed me the ring. "You hold on to it. I'm not one to accessories so here's a gift from me to you."

"Woah—ahh—thanks, Yuri. I think this is the first gift you've ever given to me." I said with as much sarcasm as I could. "You'd think I'd be happier…?"

"I'm giving it to you cuz I trust you the most between everyone here." It's weird, but it kinda made me little happy that he trust me. "If I gave it to Karol or Estelle they would only play around with it." _'Ah, that's why…'_ We decided to continue on.

**{The Sorcerers' Ring} **

"I wonder if people from a long time ago used little rings like these to move things around." (Yuri)

"Yes, items like this have been discovered in other ruins, as well." (Rita)

"It sure is useful for something so small." (Karol)

"Yeah, unlike some people I could name." 'Glares at everyone' (Rita)

"Huh?" (Karol)

"It's impressive that you've been entrusted with a Sorcerer's Ring, Rita. I've heard they're only given to a small amount of people." (Estelle)

"Hmmm. Guess someone trusts you." (Yuri)

"You're the only one who doesn't." (Rita)

Karol gave us a good explanation on Sentinel having a reputation as being as tough as nails. I didn't believe him at first, but we ended up having to fight some while they cornered us, and he was right. There body is covered in stone our blades had no effect on them. If it wasn't for Rita and Estelle's artes to soften their bodies with water we wouldn't have cut them down.

**{Did you say "Castle"?} **

"Hey, didn't you say something about the castle not too long ago?" (Rita)

"Oh? Yes, well, you see…" (Estelle)

"Yeah, I was in the castle a while back. I used to be a knight." 'Yuri cuts in' (Yuri)

"You? A Knight? Please, how gullible do you think I am?" (Rita)

"Believe it or not it's true." (Aero)

"…Will wonders never cease?" (Rita)

"Is it really so hard for everyone to believe that?" 'Pouts' (Yuri)

"Looks like you weren't good enough to get your name out there." 'Tease' (Aero)

"Come on, let's go." 'Yuri glares before he leaves' (Yuri)

"Hey, they changed the subject on me…" (Rita)

These ruins were actually quite dark. We've would have fallen countless of time if we weren't careful.

"Shh, do you guys hear something…?" Karol squeaked as he tried his best not to cower. We all stopped in our tracks to listen to our surrounding. I could hear footsteps splashing into small puddle and the sound of dragging iron across the stone floor.

"Something's coming…" I growled in a low whisper. But to our surprise we were suddenly attacked from behind. What was once our party of Yuri, Karol, Repede and I, was all mingled up. Karol was hooked and chuck to the side, hitting a rock wall hard enough to knock the air out of him. Rita was force to act quickly and jumped in to help us, while Estelle tended to an injured Karol. It was a group of Merfish and Ribbits.

"It looks like they've messed up our order…Let's take 'em down!" Shouted Yuri.

"Woof, woof!" It was a back attack and we all charged in with a disruptive formation. Everyone was everywhere. We had to act fast or else we could be killed. Golems might have been a pain in the ass for us blade wielders, but a bunch of fish? Hah, that was nothing for us. We were lucky enough that Yuri and I took the enemy done pretty quickly, with a bit of help from Rita supporting us with her artes, while Repede protected her.

"That was scary… I didn't expect to be ambushed from behind like that." Said Karol as he made his way over to the group with Estelle.

"You alright, Captain?" Asked Yuri.

"Yah, I'm fine, nothing but a couple of scratches." The group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"We have to be more careful next time. Karol I'm impressed that you were the first to notice anything." I said.

"Well it's not that I was able to really hear anything coming, more like I could fell something coming." He shivered as he remembered that feeling.

"That just means you have strong senses, which is always a good skill to have."

"I guess being in a hunter's guild, your anxiety kicks your senses into overdrive." He quietly laughed to himself. This is what made Karol really cute. It was really obvious that he was scared of everything around him, but he did his best to be strong in front of everyone. I guess that's why Yuri chooses to tease him about it then to tell him straight up that he's a scaredy-cat. In a way it's kind of him, but it's also pretty mean. Guess I'll just have to keep him in check. "Ah—guys? There are more of them coming this way."

"Looks like they haven't notice us yet. Hey, Thief Girl!" Said Rita. _'Thief Girl…really?' _"Use the ring on them." She pointed to the oncoming enemies.

"Like this?" I shot the Sorcerers Ring. It seems to have startle and confused them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Yes! Now we have the preemptive strike."

"Alright, let's bring 'em down." Yuri jumped in and already the first monster cut down. Rita fired a couple of Fireballs to run the others dry, while Repede and I finished them off.

"Oh, I get it now. So that's how this thing works." I looked down at my hand where the ring was wrapped around my ring finger.

"I didn't know it could be used like that, too." Said Estelle as she walked over to me to check-out the ring.

"Right, let's get a move on." Rita wanted to carry on before any other monster decided to give the jump on us. We all seem to agree and continued to go further into the ruins.

**{A Dangerous Decision}**

"Wow, the Sorcerer's Ring is actually pretty cool. Not only can it turn blastia on, but it can also stun your enemies." (Aero)

"Yes, it's actually pretty handy for something so small." (Rita)

"Hmmm…I wonder…" 'Scurries off with a mischievous grin' (Aero)

"What's she up to?" (Rita)

"Hey, what the-!?" 'Yelling can be heard from afar' (Yuri)

"Ahahaha, this thing awesome!" 'Smile as she returns to Rita side, Yuri dangerously approaches' (Aero)

"What was that for?" (Yuri)

"Opps, sorry did I hit you. My bad!" 'Stick out tongue in a silly apologetic manner' (Aero)

"I'm started to think giving you the ring was a bad idea." (Yuri)

"What are you talking about I'm like _**SUPER **_trustworthy." 'giggles' (Aero)

"Alright, then, since you're so trustworthy, I trust you'll give me back the ring." (Yuri)

"Oh, no, I'm not that stupid that I would fall for that." 'takes the opportunity to run' (Aero)

"Hey, get back here, I'm not done with you yet…" 'chases after her' (Yuri)

"Ugh! For a couple of adult they sure do act like children. 'sigh' (Rita)

As we searched around the ruins, we came across a couple more of those moving blastia cores. It made it much easier to go deeper inside, but it was such a hassle to have to run around everywhere just to find the damn thing. This is why I chose not to be a Dungeon Crawler to steal ancient artifact and choose to be a Thief, **much** easier.

**{Nothing to Worry About}**

"Hmm… If that ceiling collapses, we'd be buried alive." (Estelle)

"Wh-what are you saying stuff like that for, Estelle!? What if it really happened?" (Karol)

"Come on, don't be such a wimp. These ruins are made of stronger stuff than that." 'Sudden rock slide could be heard from next to them' (Rita)

"Ahhh! Estelle, now the ceiling's going to collapse because you were talking about it! …Huh?" (Karol)

"Oh, sorry. I just stubbed my toe on a rock." 'smirks' (Yuri)

"…You did that on purpose, didn't you?" (Rita)

"Yuri… You're mean…" (Estelle)

"C-come on, let's hurry and finish up what where doing so we can get out of these ruins!" (Karol)

"He really likes to scare people, doesn't he?" (Aero)

"Grrr… Woof!" (Repede)

We had travelled for what felt like hours underneath in these ruins. Everywhere we went just felt the same, but after turning on another glyph we found ourselves in a very open room. It was a lot less dusty and damp in here than in any other part of the ruins. We made our way across a bridge and came to face with a very large statue, but as I looked around there was nothing else. No treasure, no….nada. But what looked like nothing to use was a whole nether story to Rita. She suddenly seem excited and ran pass all of us, running straight up to the statue.

"H-hey…" I tried to warn her.

"Jeez, what is this thing!? Is this another one of those blastia, too?" Asked Karol as he looked up at the statue. Yuri seemed not too happy as he walked on up to it.

"But what I want is the aqua blastia. Not this… this puppet." He started tapping at it. So it was another Golem, but this one seemed dormant.

"What are you doing? Don't just go poking at him like that!" Rita seemed irritated. Yuri gave her a blank stare while he shrugged off. Rita took the opportunity to examine the Golem's condition from behind. "If I can just analyze him, I'll finally be able to finish my anima formu—huh? No! His blastia core is missing!"

"'Sniff, sniff' Grrrr…" Repede seemed to notice somebody from above us. It was a person dressed in a cloak, my guess was a mage. He panic when we saw him and ran to hide behind a pillar.

"Rita, looks like one of your friends are here." Said Yuri. Rita came round the Golem to get a better look.

"HEY! WHO'RE YOU?" She screamed.

"M-me?" He poked his head out of hiding. "I'm just a blastia researcher from Aspio!"

"…That sounded convincing." Yuri pointed out. The mage stepped out of hiding.

"And just who are all of you? This place is off-limits, you know!" He argued back with a bit of fright in his voice.

"I think you just gave yourself away." Rita crossed her arms. "I don't know who you are, but you're definitely not from Aspio if you don't recognize me." Karol inched over to Estelle.

"…Guess she got no problem with modesty." He whispered into her ear.

"Gah! This job is just full of problems." The mage growled as he made his way over to the upper part of the Golem. "If it's not the knights, it's a bunch of kids!" He seemed to insert something into the back of it, then the floor started to rumble and the Golem stood up.

"AAAH! IT'S MOVING!" Karol screamed. The Golem suddenly raised its arm. It was going to attack.

"RITA! WATCH OUT!" I yelled, but it was too late. The Golem smacked Rita across the room.

"RITA!?" Estelle cried as she ran to her side. She kneeled down beside her. "Let me see…" Estelle focused herself and healed Rita wounds. Rita couldn't believe what had happen. She suddenly grasp Estelle arm.

"Wait a minute…"

"W-what?!"

"How did you…?" Rita looked back at her.

"I was just trying to heal your wounds…"

"HEY YOU GUYS!?" Their attention turned to Karol. "Stop fooling around and help us!" He jumped out of the way in time before the Golem took him down. Rita and Estelle scrambled to their feet and joined us in battle.

"Alright, let's see what we're up against." I took the opportunity to use a Magic Lens. "It's called a Goliath. It has no Resistance or Weaknesses."

"So pretty much we just pound the crap out of this guy?" Yuri moved his sword in time to block a powerful swing.

"Exactly!" I chimed with malice. My instincts were ready to fight back as I pulled out my daggers.

"That's how I like it." Yuri smirked. "Aero and Karol, you two take his sides. I'll take his back. Repede you take the front and keep him distracted. Estelle and Rita you use arte to support us and fry him raw." Yuri started to run in position. Karol and I both did as we were told, Repede and Estelle also covered, but Rita…

"I'm going after that idiot! You all take care of him!" She tried to run by us, but Goliath came to strike her down again. She barely managed to dodge out of the way.

"What do you mean 'leave it to us', you can't even get through right now!?"

"Grrr…" Rita was frustrated.

"You've got no choice but to fight. Let's just beat up this wind-up toy, then will chase him down."

"CHAMPAGNE!?" Rita busted out her arte with rage.

"That 'a girl!" Yuri took up his position behind and strikes the Goliath hard. "Wolf Strike!"

"Tornade Edge!" I knocked him back towards Karol.

"Dragon Upp-Gah!" Karol was almost crushed by the Golem, but rolled out of the way in time.

"Karol, here! Sharpness!" Estelle cast.

"Thanks! Dragon Upper!" Karol was able to land a couple of good hits on him, enough to get in some critical. Repede also came running up the front and pierce him in his face. Goliath stumbled down to the ground, but he wasn't finish.

"Aero, Karol, Repede and Rita, NOW!" Shouted Yuri.

"Right!" we said in unison as we all attacked at the same time, delivering the final blow. The Goliath trembled as it collapsed to the ground. Rita ran to the back of it.

"All that's left is to cut out its power supply… I'm sorry…" As she pulled the core from the Golem all signs of life left it. It's body as gray and lifeless as before. But they didn't have time to feel sorry for it.

"Rita, hurry!" Koral called.

"All right! All right!" She grumbled as she jumped off. "Come on, let's go!"

"But, Flynn…" Estelle worried.

"There can't be many knights here if our shady friend in the cloak is just wondering around." Said Yuri.

"So you think Flynn is…"

"Argh! Who cares about him, come on!" Estelle gave me a dirty look for my lack of care for Flynn, but I'm not doing it to be mean, I'm doing it to move everyone along. "If we sit here any longer that creeps gonna get away."

"If I had a little more time I could have figured out the anima formula…" Rita seemed to be mumbling to herself. It took us a while to reach up to the guy, luckily we had pretty much had made a path for ourselves, and luckily for us he was still in the ruins. Rita came charging up to him and managed to corner him. "How can you just steal a core and run off like that…?" She fumed. Repede seemed to feel of her frustration and even manage to bite the guy.

"Aaah! Stop! M-make him stop! I've only been hired to do a job… I was told I'd get a good price for any blastia core I could find." The mage whined as Repede didn't let up.

"You stole cores from the imperial capital too, didn't you?" Asked Yuri.

"The capital? No way, not me!"

"Then maybe it was one of your friends." Yuri started to raise his voice. He was starting to get impatient.

"Y-yeah! It's that creep, Dedecchi!"

"Where'd he run off to?"

"He's probably picking up his money from a client right now."

"Client, huh? And who exactly might that be?"

"All I know is he's somewhere in Torim Harbor. I don't know any more than that! He was a huge bruiser of a guy with a scar on his right cheek and one eye missing."

"So is this the guy collecting all the cores…?"

"And where, might I ask, did you steal that Sorcerer's Ring?" Asked Rita.

"Wh-who said that I stole it? The client gave it to me, said it be useful for this job!"

"Liar! That's not something the boss of some pickpockets could get his hands on." She growled.

"H-honest! You've gotta believe me!"

"This thing sound pretty big. You think somebody important is behind it all?" Asked Karol.

"I think you're on the right track there, Captain Karol. This doesn't sound like some ordinary band of thieves."

"Your right, this doesn't sound normal at all. Somebody very high up or with lots of money in their pocket is planning something… That worries me." It couldn't be them… could it?

"Man! First the knights, then the monsters, now…" The mage looks down at Repede. "This…"

"Knight? Then Flynn was here after all." Estelle beamed.

"Yeah, that's him. That damn knight!"

"Shut up!" Rita decided she didn't want to listen to him whine anymore and knock the mage out cold, though any moment to sully Flynn's name, is a good moment.

"Great, Rita. You knocked him out… Now what?" Pouted Karol.

"I'll have the city guards come pick him up later."

"Alright, then, let's get back to Aspio." Said Yuri.

"Finally we can get out of this dungeon and into some fresh air." I cheered as I made my way out to the entrance.

**It's so exciting when I put up another chapter, even after soooooo long of not updating. I'd like to apologize to everyone that have been waiting. I can't say for sure when the next one will be up but I will keep working at it. Remember to R&R! PEACE! XD**


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